Oberlin's President Says No

NotVerySmart
Sat, 23 Jan 2016 21:37:41 +0000

Pizzagirl:

Exactly. We all agree it’s horrendous for someone to drive by, roll down the window and shout something hateful, but what do you expect a college to do about it when it’s not on their property? And in the absence of a license plate, etc what do you expect the police to do about it?

To which one might add that, while the college can try to discourage such behavior, if someone’s determined to bandy such terms about he/she can do so. Even in the presence of a license plate, the first amendment protects the right to be a jerk if you so choose, which leaves the police with their hands tied until laws are broken.

The college can do its utmost to prevent incidents of racism, but at the end of the day I wouldn’t hold the school accountable for what the townspeople say or do any more than I’d blame the townspeople for bad food in the cafeteria or a poorly maintained building on campus.