Oberlin College blames the blogosphere
No apologies from this corner of “the blogosphere” for seeking the truth.
Earlier today we ran excerpts of certain additional records produced by the Oberlin Police Department with regard to The Great Oberlin Racism Hoax of 2013, including portions of Oberlin College incident reports, in response to an Open Records request from Legal Insurrection.
In the post this morning, we mentioned that Oberlin College played some role as to which material would be redacted by the police, and also alerted students of the release in advance.
Subsequent to our post, we were forwarded by someone on campus the following email from the Oberlin Dean of Students last night blaiming “the blogosphere” for pressing for the records.
Sorry, but Oberlin has no one to blame but the Oberlin administration’s own cover-up of this hoax.
As we have documented before, and as the records released this morning further demonstrate, the Oberlin administration knew no later than February 27 that this was a hoax by students trolling for a reaction. There were no KKK supporters or Neo-Nazis prowling the hallways and buildings.
Yet the Oberlin administration never told the students, the alumni, or the media. Instead, the Oberlin administration allowed students to live in fear.
In the email last night, there still is no acknowledgement that the primary culprit behind this was a liberal pro-Obama “anti-racist” activist, and that it was not what it seemed. Oberlin thereby furthers the damage done by the hoax.
Instead of being upfront with the community, on March 4 classes on campus were canceled, student working groups were organized, and the hoax was exploited to advance “even more extreme policies”.
No apologies here for pressing for the truth to come out. “Blogosphere” or not.
Rather than an email blaiming the blogosphere, the Oberlin administration should circulate an email apologizing to students, faculty, staff and alumni. And the nation.
Here’s the full email (emphasis added):
From: Eric Estes <xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 6:03 PM
Subject: Important Information from the Dean of Students
To: [email protected]Dear Students,
I hope your semester has gotten off to a great start. I want to encourage you to take advantage of all the resources available to support you such as the class deans as well as new and enhanced resources focused on health and wellness (see my start of the year update on the Oncampus page). Please know that the my door and those of my colleagues are always open.
I also want to inform students of another important issue that has developed in the last couple of weeks. The City of Oberlin will soon release materials related to the Oberlin Police Department’s (OPD) investigation of the flood of racist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic incidents that occurred in our community last winter and spring. Fueled by recent stories in the blogosphere, the City of Oberlin has received several requests for their complete records of the incidents, which they are treating as part of the public record. Those records include some Oberlin College Office of Safety and Security (S&S) reports of the incidents including the names of Oberlin students, faculty, and staff who reported those incidents in some cases. Each person likely to be affected has been contacted personally.
This undoubtedly raises some questions. First, we wanted to be sure to communicate with you in advance of the public records release. We want to be transparent. Second, let me assure you that the administration’s sharing of certain relevant S&S reports with the OPD occurred in response to a unique set of circumstances, and was undertaken in good faith to protect the health and safety of students by actively seeking law enforcement investigation and prosecution of suspected criminal behavior. At the time those reports were shared, there was no expectation that their contents would become public. Rather, College administrators were seeking law enforcement’s assistance in halting the bias incidents and holding alleged perpetrators accountable for their actions. Finally, we are working together with The City of Oberlin and the OPD to solve this problem moving forward. We are committed to doing everything possible to prevent this kind of situation from ever happening again.
Given the nature of this update and the questions that may arise, I will be holding special office hours to listen to you, to answer your questions, and to address any concerns. The office hours this week and next are as follows: Thursday, September 19th, 10-11 a.m.; Friday, September 20th, 1-2 p.m.; Monday, September 23rd, 4-5 p.m.; Tuesday, September 24th, 3:30-4:30 p.m.; Wednesday, September 25th, 11a.m.-12 p.m.; and Thursday, September 26th, 10-11 a.m. All the special office hours will be in Wilder 105.
Best,
Eric Estes
Vice President and Dean of Students
Related post: Anti-Israel flag at Oberlin just par for the campus course.
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Comments
#1) Great job, Professor, in ratting out the hoax cover up, or at least in assisting in that regard.
#2) Oberlin’s administration seems incapable of assuming any responsibility for the events past February 27th, even though they were fully aware of the hoax.
#3) Isn’t this called “Obstruction” or “Furtherance” inchoate?
Oberlin’s defense sounds much like the state dept.’s statement of causality re Benghazi: the YouTube defense or the “out of my control” internet defense
Next up: “The internet made me do it. The internet made me do it.”
Ha — you beat me to it! Comments crossed. (I meant to give you a thumbs up and that thumbs down may have been my mistake.)
Oberlin administration blaming the blogosphere for the hoax is like the lords and ladies of Obamaland blaming the youtube video for the Benghazi terror attack.
What’s wrong with these people? Do they think we can’t see their shameless duplicity?
Or is the MSM silence the greater coverup?
Professor,
Any chance you could send someone to visit Eric Estes during the office hours listed and ask a few questions? This guy is shameless…..
I’m still confused. My understanding is that no criminal charges were filed against anyone. Is that correct? I hadn’t realized that calling “Psych!” relieved someone of accountability. Also, did the college take any action regarding the trolls?
Blogosphere…
Oh how the liberals hate the Conservative TruthOrConsequencesOsphere.
Personally, I’m waiting for the KKK to sue Oberlin for libel. I’m pretty sure they’d have a case.
That would suit my sense of humor very well.
Why am I beginning to suspect that the person or persons responsible for this hoax, and whose identity is still being protected, have names that a reasonable person could connect with either a protected class of professional victims or are viewed as moderate members of one of the worlds great religions?
I’d suspect more that their name will turn out to be remarkably similar to that of a big doner to the school, or some high muckity-muck on the board.
[…] TRUTH-TELLING: Oberlin College Blames The Blogosphere For Pointing Out That Racism Hoax Was A Hoax. […]
Thanks to the Professor and others who have worked on this story at least some of the incidents were perpetrated by Obama supporters. This contradicts the Narrative that Oberlin prefers: a country under the threat of a cabel of right-wing religious bigots attacks an enligtened institution of higher learning.
The email from Estes is battlespace preparations to protect that Narrative.
Seems to me that Oberlin’s administrators are framing a narrative that “the blogosphere” was going to harass “the names of Oberlin students, faculty, and staff who reported those incidents”. Nice move on their part to inflame the situation even further, not to mention to bury their questionable actions.
Also interesting is the statement “College administrators were seeking law enforcement’s assistance in halting the bias incidents and holding alleged perpetrators accountable for their actions.” I don’t seem to remember anyone being held accountable. Must be that major donor/board member name thingie, I guess.
“Second, let me assure you that the administration’s sharing of certain relevant S&S reports with the OPD occurred in response to a unique set of circumstances, and was undertaken in good faith to protect the health and safety of students by actively seeking law enforcement investigation and prosecution of suspected criminal behavior. At the time those reports were shared, there was no expectation that their contents would become public.”
So what did you expect? Make a call to the police and not have them record the call, who made it, but help you catch the bad guys?
My favorite part was “we want to be transparent,” and my second favorite part is “undertaken in good faith to protect” ha ha ha ha ha ha, good ones, that kills me. Eric Estes, Vice President and Dean of Students at Oberlin, there’s a place for you in comedy.
Hmmmm. I think we should all chip in and buy enough space in the local paper–or better, the student paper–and publish the truth of this hoax for all to see. Let us know if you’re up to exposing this hoax even further, professor. I’ll be the first to chip in.
One of the people involved was known for several years for his racist ‘jokes,’ posted under a thin alias on racist websites, and is said to have identified as a Republican. He and the apparently politically different student involved united around free-speech politics. This was free-speech rather than liberal trolling.