A fault line at Oberlin
by Shaye Frenkel
Despite marketing itself as a place where everyone fits in, under the surface, Oberlin is a school built on division. We have the stark gap between our world-famous conservatory and the liberal arts college; the disparity between the progressive values it espouses versus the actions it takes; the “acceptable” genres of music versus everything else; but, one that has long gone unspoken is the partition between the student body and the residents of the city. While students frequent many local businesses, forming a symbiotic relationship as money and goods trade hands, there really isn’t a concrete sense of community between the two groups. At least not anymore. Now, all we’re left with is awkward tension at best, and a searing animosity at worst. Interested in hearing an outsider’s thoughts on this, I sat down with my friend Jackie, an avid musician and resident of Oberlin, to hear her story.
Responses have been edited for clarity.
Just to start, could you briefly introduce yourself?
Hi, my name is Jackie. I am a 21-year-old woman living in Oberlin, Ohio. I moved here when I was about seven into a house on North Professor Street, right by the college. Over time I have really come to love and hate certain parts of living here, but it's a very unique experience. There's no other place like Oberlin.
When I say the term “Oberlin culture,” what do you think about?
I'm honestly not quite sure what it is at this point. It seems at this point that we're more or less holding onto the idea of what Oberlin culture is supposed to be. It's supposed to be something progressive, supposed to be something very liberal, accepting and communal. There's a communal aspect that I feel has been lost. People are more isolated than they ever have been, so I guess it makes sense, but the loss of a lot of co-ops and the overall decreased involvement of the college with the town has really changed what I think Oberlin culture is. There's something really artsy and community oriented due to being such a small community, and I feel like there's a touch of magic that's just kinda lost these days.
I know that you're a musician, you play in a couple bands, how do you think you fit into the Oberlin ecosystem?
I don't really, at least not these days. I used to work at a thrift store downtown called All Things Great. That place is amazing. And I've been playing in my one band Necroprophecy for a few years, and my newer band, Hex. One of them is a metal band. The other is a crust punk band. We never get to play in Oberlin or anything 'cause people just really aren't interested on both ends. It's not like it used to be where His Hero Is Gone would play here.
What about the Oberlin of today makes it seem less conducive to that stuff?
Honestly, a lot of it has to do with the Gibson's lawsuit and the already precarious financial situation the college was in. They really shifted their priorities. They're focused more on making money. Oberlin's always been expensive, small liberal, it’s always been a rich kid school, but they had better scholarships back in the day and I just feel the type of person who goes here is a bit different.
I feel as though youth culture is very different than it used to be. Going back to the early 2010s, youth culture is a lot different with the rise of the social media panopticon. There really aren't very many subcultures and the few ones that survived, like hardcore punk, they sure as fuck don't exist in Oberlin. I feel as though the college kids have largely grown detached from the community. There's a lot of resentment on both sides. The college doesn't really treat the town very well in a few regards, and as a result, a lot of townies have hostile, condescending attitudes towards students.
It's clear that the school has definitely fragmented itself from the town in recent years, but when you first moved here, what were some of your early memories associated with the college?
Growing up, I remember the college kids either being really normal or weird as fuck, and they all had like Jewfros and were covered in paint and there were a lot of hippie kids. I don't really see those anymore. The only preppy kids were on the sports teams. There were a lot of normal nerds–well, as normal as they could get–they were still really gay. But that's just how everyone is, and it's awesome. I love it so much, especially considering where we live. It's nightmarish everywhere else. It's kind of scary.
Yeah, it's easy to shit on the school and the things that have gone wrong, but, you know, there are still good things about the school and about the culture.
Oh, yeah. I do have this really distinct memory of these kids who would ride around in a painted school bus. And when I was a kid, that was like the coolest thing ever.
The college actually was pretty involved in the elementary schools, like with Spanish in the elementary schools, the SITES program, and we would go on tours of the Allen Art Museum, I believe both of those things are still ongoing. Also, Big Parade used to be a lot bigger of a deal, and that is something I remember very, very well as a kid. I'd never seen something like that before, especially in such a small town in Ohio. I just moved from California the first time I saw the big parade downtown and I didn't know that there were cool things here. It made me feel less shitty about having to move to Ohio, 'cause I was not particularly excited as a child.
Going back to the music thing a little bit, is there anything nowadays that you notice trend-wise or culture-wise here that you wish you could change?
No, there's nothing I would change.
[laughter]
Well, for one, I wish people who actually gave a shit about music were given more leadership positions when it comes to, for instance, things like the radio, and just overall booking and stuff like that. I feel like people who actually care about music and go to shows and don't spend the whole goddamn time on their phone jumping up and down and filming themselves should get more involved.
Yeah. I feel like a lot of things here are so clout based. Like, I wanna be in charge of this organization 'cause it's cool, you know?
A lot of it is because it's cool rather than genuine passion. That is something I notice. It's like something you're supposed to do so you can tell people that's what you did and they'll be like, “wow, you're so cool.”
I sound like such a crotchety old grandma when I say shit like this, but I feel like I'm right in a way. People need to leave the social media panopticon outside when you're thinking about music. It is really bad to subject any creative process, but I feel especially music and the culture that comes along with music, especially live music, I feel like it's really bad to subject the whole thing to that level of scrutiny and self-consciousness, something that is that expressive.
Semi-related, but I feel alienated, I feel like there's something completely alien about the way most people my age find music. A lot of the time it's through social media and it drives me crazy. I feel like there's no actual social scene associated with a lot of music, especially here. It's just a thing you do if you want to be cool. Like, “ah, I'm in a band, guys, look at me. I'm in a band.” And then you take whatever music you like on Instagram reels. “oh, there's some nu-gaze. Ooh, we're gonna call it grunge-gaze, even though it's just alternative rock with distorted reverbing delay”. It pisses me off. You shouldn't get your music from a fucking algorithm. I feel like it's always been there to an extent, but a shift like that has only really happened over the last 15 years or so.
Yeah, the death of CDs into the weird limbo of the internet and then streaming services and corporations taking over the algorithm.
I suppose. Corporations have always been in charge of shit like that. I mean, the old school music industry was no better, you know? They were terrible. They played a song on the radio until you fucking bought it, because they're playing mind games with you.
But nowadays, you don't have to talk to people as much. I feel like that’s a big problem. For music that really thrives in the underground, you kinda have to talk to people for at least a lot of the music I'm into. Like, sure, you could sit down and research it, but there's something really unique with the scene of hardcore punk where you learn about shit through word of mouth. You do a little research, you talk to other people, they tell you bits and boobies and bops and it all fucking works out.
