Return to this page for bits and pieces of our time in 44074, and suggest other bits or pieces via the Contact Us function (put Our Oberlin in the subject line, please)

September 1970

And so it begins ...

President Fuller calls for an all-campus effort to "reformulate the concept of a liberal arts college" and to "create a model of the college of the future" (his opening Assembly was the front page news in the September 11, 1970 Oberlin Review)

Nearly all of us ("more than 600") participated in an Orientation micro-lab that involved wandering around a room with eyes closed, making (some? a lot of?) physical contact with other frosh, one of several Orientation activities reported in the September 15, 1970 Oberlin Review (p 4); if you are the "girl" quoted as "going through" "so much" with a guy, such that "I know we'll be real friends for a long time", please ... do tell!

Claes Oldenburg's "Three Way Plug (Cube Tap)" is inaugurated, with Oldenburg attending (anticipated in the September 6, 1970 Oberlin Review)

Conservatory student finishes third in Miss America contest, has to withdraw from Con (scholarship prize valid only at a state school); on campus reaction "mixed", per the September 15, 1970 Oberlin Review (page 1)

this month at The Apollo 

• Z
• The Landlord 
• The Boys in the Band
• Getting Straight

October 1970

Activist - comedian Dick Gregory spoke at Assembly ("Social Problems: Social or Anti-social?")

this month at The Apollo 

• Fellini Satyricon
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• The Virgin and the Gypsy

November 1970

Did Van Morrison appear at Finney Chapel on November 7? (His contracted-for appearance was announced in the October 19, 1970 Oberlin Review, which was remarkably uncertain that the event would come off, while noting that the artist really needed the money; there's no subsequent mention of his appearance in the Review.) Who remembers??

Oberlin Review November 19, 1970 reports that tuition for the 1971-72 year will be $2,550, up from $2,400, and the fourth year in a row with a tuition increase. (Room and board, both separate charges, of course, also expected to increase.) Is there an econ nerd in the class who can turn those numbers into inflation-adjusted 2023 dollars?

William Sloan Coffin, Yale chaplain, spoke in Wilder Main Lounge on "Liberal Education: Warmth to go with the Light", reported in the December 1, 1970 Oberlin Review (p 8)

this month at The Apollo 

• Fantasia
• Woodstock
• I Am Curious (yellow)
• Joe

December 1970

Does anyone remember that Life magazine had an Oberlin cover story just before Thanksgiving (just kidding)? The Oberlin Review December 8, 1970 (p 3) recapped some of the early reactions across the country, and a reminder that our Cindy Stewart appeared on the Phil Donahue television show after Life.

Alicia de Larrocha gave a piano recital in Finney Chapel (program and review ["brava!"] in the December 11, 1970, p 5)

Conservatory faculty abolishes the recital attendance requirement, reported in the Oberlin Review December 15, 1970 (p 5).

this month at The Apollo 

• On A Clear Day You Can See Forever
• M*A*S*H
• WUSA

January 1971

What did you do Winter Term? Contact Us, please.

Twyla Tharp's dance company performs in Jones Field House and in Hall Auditorium 

Allan Prochazka spent Winter Term in the Swiss Alps, "learning French", he says.

In a before-our-time retrospective, the January 15, 1971 Oberlin Review published a survey of educational reform at Oberlin, 1960-70, by the student senate President (p 3).

this month at The Apollo 

• Airport 
• The Detective
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• Patton
• Little Fauss and Big Halsy

February 1971

(from Rich Lucas:) On February 1, 1971, a historic event took place. Many members of the '74 Class participated in the Winter Term Project founding the Oberlin Black Ensemble. The OBE performed its first concert on this day, in Warner Concert Hall and to a "standing room only" audience.

Student sentenced to 3 months in Lorain County jail in drug case, reported in the February 16, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 4)

Do you remember how much snow we had that winter? Surely there were snowball fights all over campus, but one fine day there was an epic battle in front of Fairchild. Spectators opened windows to offer commentary and a future chair of the Oberlin trustees became a legend by nailing a spectator through an upper floor open window.

this month at The Apollo 

• Where’s Poppa?
• Lovers and Other Strangers
• I Love My … Wife
• Midnight Cowboy
• Women in Love

March 1971

Future All-American diver Casey Cook had a memorable experience at his first Swimming & Diving conference meet (it's on his Profile): "I dove in the conference meet with 500 drunk fans cheering wildly. Missed my takeoff, launched helplessly into the air and screamed shit at a very high volume. Stayed under as long as my breath would hold and surfaced finally to a tumultuous applause." (The Oberlin Review of March 19, 1972 reported this event [p7] with less color: "Cook was disappointed in his fifth place finish at the OAC's, but he completely missed one dive which probably meant the difference between fifth and second places.")

U.S. Representative Shirley Chisholm spoke at Assembly ("The Social Revolution"), reported in the March 19, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 5)

this month at The Apollo 

• Five Easy Pieces
• Carry It On
• Aristocats 
• Cromwell

April 1971

Oberlin College Choir completes spring break tour, 11 concerts in 10 days, reported in the April 9, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 5)

Planning meetings on campus for two marches in Washington, D.C., a "standard march" with permits April 24 and a "disruptive" march on May 3 "to shut down Washington", reported in the April 20, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 4)

this month at The Apollo 

• The Passion of Anna
• The Wild Child
• Little Murders
• The Great White Hope

May 1971

Second Annual Oberlin College Student Film Festival ("Premiere '71") screens 20 films (previewed in the May 7, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 5)

The Youngbloods in concert at Finney Chapel

this month at The Apollo 

• The Owl and the Pussycat
• Zachariah 

September 1971

Student Assembly speaker from the James Madison Constitutional Law Institute in New York, "Abortion Revolution" 

this month at The Apollo 

• Taking Off
• Panic in Needle Park
• Summer of ‘42
• Celebration at Big Sur

October 1971

Student Life Committee approves the club charter of Oberlin College Gay Liberation, deferred from last year due to Student Senate collapse, as reported in the October 1, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 8; "there was some legal question whether the SLC would be condoning sodomy ...[but] they concluded they would not be, since the organization was basically educational...".)

this month at The Apollo 

• Friends
• Ryan’s Daughter 
• Gone With the Wind
• Any Given Sunday 
• M*A*S*H
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

November 1971

Hosea Williams, National Coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, speaks at Finney Chapel

Fall Folk Festival features Patrick Sky and John Lee Hooker

this month at The Apollo 

• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Doctor Zhivago 
• Millhouse 

December 1971

In encouraging participation in an upcoming Social Board student survey, the December 3, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 6) notes that concerts "never" make money, only twice in recent years made money (Pete Seeger, Judy Collins), and even acts such as Simon & Garfunkel, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and the Youngbloods are presented with "big losses"

WOBC broadcasts a one-hour variety show live from Kulas Hall (a first), organized by Bob Apfel, and reported in the December 7, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 8)

Mummer's Guild presents The Homecoming (Pinter) in Peters Hall

this month at The Apollo 

• Billy Jack
• The Devils
• Bless the Beasts & Children

January 1972

The January 7, 1972 Oberlin Review front page report of an assembly speaker carried the headline "Caryl Kline on Women: 'Do you really participate or just sit back and cluck?'"

Yvonne Rainer and the Grand Union on campus for the month as the Modern Dance Program's Winter Term Company-in-Residence, previewed in the November 9, 1971 Oberlin Review (p 5)

this month at The Apollo 

• One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich 
• Sunday Bloody Sunday 
• Glen and Randa
• First Love

February 1972

Laura Nyro sings, gets blistered in the February 15, 1972 Oberlin Review (p 5: "Watching her perform only exposes the limitations and strains on her voice and the ugliness of her piano technique ....")

this month at The Apollo 

• Straw Dogs
• WR - - Mysteries of the Orgasm
• Diamonds Are Forever
• The Go-Between

March 1972

Andre Watts recital at Finney Chapel, program previewed in the March 7, 1972 Oberlin Review

Gloria Steinem and Margaret Sloan speak at student assembly, reported in the March 10, 1972 Oberlin Review.

US Air Force recruiters cancel appointments in Peters Hall after being advised that students would protest (the subject of an editorial in the April 7, 1972 Oberlin Review, p 2)

55% turnout in Student Senate elections elect 18 senators, including sophomores Jan Heininger, Robin Omata, Sue McGarry, Bob Apfel, Gregg Allen, and Laura Tomita; Chuck Ettelson and Curt Siddall designated as alternates (reported in the April 7, 1972 Oberlin Review, p 4) 

this month at The Apollo 

• 200 Motels
• Dirty Harry 
• Hospital 
• Play Misty for Me

April 1972

Poetry reading by Denise Levertov in Kettering Bryant

General Faculty debates athletic schedule over match with USAF Academy, reported in April 21, 1972 Oberlin Review (front page)

this month at The Apollo 

• French Connection
• The Boyfriend  The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight
• The Hot Rock
• The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

May 1972

Marjorie Hoover's appointment as professor of German and Russian gives Oberlin three female professors, apparently for the first time(!), reported in the May 5, 1972 Oberlin Review

Poetry reading in King by Michael S. Harper

this month at The Apollo 

• Modern Times
• Shame
• Yellow Submarine
• Hour of the Wolf

 

 

September 1972

Herbert Blau describes the new Inter-Arts Program in a series in the Oberlin Review September 8, 1972 (p 2), September 15, 1972 (p 3), and September 26, 1972 (p 2)

this month at The Apollo 

• Play It Again Sam
• The Godfather 
• The Candidate
• The Graduate

October 1972

Kenny Loggins Band with Jim Messina at Finney Chapel (some of us vividly remember this concert as *our* orientation concert [see Jan Heininger's profile, for example], but we are wrong)

Rain, Oberlin's black literary magazine, publishes its first edition of the school year, as reported in the October 20, 1972 Oberlin Review (p 5)

New Hungarian Quartet at Finney Chapel, in first of five recitals on campus, this program in the October 13, 1972 Oberlin Review (p 5)

The Cleveland Orchestra at Finney Chapel in its 168th on-campus recital (with what looks like most expensive ticket of the year! $4)

Violinist Pinchas Zukerman recital at Finney Chapel, program described in the October 6, 1972 Oberlin Review (p 5)

this month at The Apollo 

• Portnoy’s Complaint
• Fritz the Cat
• The Great Dictator
• Monkey Business / Duck Soup double feature

November 1972

John Prince and Steve Goodman appear together at Finney Chapel 

Professor Harry Edwards speaks on campus, via the Institute for the Study of Sport and Society, reported in the November 14, 1972 Oberlin Review (p 6)

this month at The Apollo 

• Everything You’ve Always Wanted To Know About Sex …
• The Last Picture Show
• Easy Rider

December 1972

A team of three junior year math majors finished second in a national competition (145 teams), behind Cal Tech but ahead of Harvard, Swarthmore, and MIT, reported in the April 6, 1973 Oberlin Review (page 8) (reported so late because math is hard to grade??)

Imamu Amiri Baraka on campus for new directions in black studies program

this month at The Apollo 

• The New Centurions 
• Reefer Madness
• Nicholas and Alexandra 
• Gimme Shelter
• Joe

January 1973

Ten Ansel Adams prints exhibited at Allen Art Museum, reported in the January 12, 1973 Oberlin Review (p 5)

Donut Hole Film Series presents double feature of Notorious and Our Man Godfrey at Bryant Kettering 

A Winter Term project presenting "opera scenes" (excerpts) at Allen Art Museum, reported in the February 2, 1973 Oberlin Review (p 5)

this month at The Apollo 

• they only kill their masters
• The Ruling Class  
• Fiddler on the Roof

February 1973

Howard Cosell on campus to record a national television segment about the athletic department, reported in the February 9, 1973 Oberlin Review; football co-captain Chris "Whizzer" White among those interviewed

this month at The Apollo 

• Slaughterhouse-Five
• A Clockwork Orange
• A Separate Peace
• Macbeth

March 1973

The newly formed Oberlin Jazz Ensemble (college and Con students) makes it on-campus debut at Finney Chapel, anticipated in the March 16, 1973 Oberlin Review (p 5)

Weather Report concert at Finney Chapel (thanks to Mary Anne Cartelli for the reminder)

this month at The Apollo 

• What’s Up, Doc?
• Shamus
• The Valachi Papers

April 1973

The Byrds in concert in Finney Chapel

this month at The Apollo 

• Steelyard Blues
• Jeremiah Johnson 
• Cabaret
• Claire’s Knee
• Chloe in the Afternoon

May 1973

Randy Newman in concert at Finney Chapel

this month at The Apollo 

• Deliverance
• Fellini's Roma
• Sleuth

 

 

September 1973

In what a theater major might call prefiguring, President Fuller had his $7 bike stolen near his office. He recalled in the September 11, 1973 Oberlin Review that he had also had a bike stolen in his final year as an Oberlin student, saying (ironically?) that having bicycles stolen "tends to cut one's emotional ties to a place."

Ten dorms start the year with new resident directors, reported in the September 11, 1973 Oberlin Review (p 11)

this month at The Apollo 

• Live and Let Die
• Paper Moon
• Cries and Whispers

October 1973

Ramsey Clark at student assembly at Finney Chapel, interviewed in the October 12, 1973 Oberlin Review

W. Mark Felt at student assembly ("Inside the FBI") (of course, Felt was much later revealed to be Woodward & Bernstein's "Deep Throat"!)

this month at The Apollo 

• White Lightning
• Day of the Jackal 
• Scare Crow 
• O Lucky Man
• Electra Glide in Blue

November 1973

Robert Fuller announces resignation as President, effective February 2, 1974, causing (among other things) the Oberlin Review to go ALL CAPS in the November 9, 1973 edition.

Stokely Carmichael speaks at student assembly, reported in the November 13, 1973 Oberlin Review (p3)

David Halberstam speaks at student assembly

this month at The Apollo 

• State of Siege
• Jesus Christ Superstar
• A Touch of Class

December 1973

The Oberlin Review visits Psych Services, wonders "Do students suffer from mass neurosis?" on the December 4, 1973 front page

this month at The Apollo 

• Last Tango in Paris
• Siddhartha 
• Fiddler on the Roof

January 1974

Meredith Monk and her company (The House) spent a month on campus, reported in the January 18, 1974 Oberlin Review (p5)

Photographer Walker Evans in residence for the month

this month at The Apollo 

• Walking Tall
• Fantasia
• The Paper Chase

February 1974

Oberlin Review, February 5, 1974: "Graduation Plans Readied" (yay), Class President Luther Jones quoted

this month at The Apollo 

• The Seven Ups
• Brewster McCloud
• Westworld
• Chariots of the Gods
• The Way We Were

March 1974

The Pointer Sisters at Finney Chapel

Count Basie and his Orchestra appear in Finney Chapel

this month at The Apollo 

• The Getaway
• The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
• Executive Action 
• A Doll’s House

April 1974

Dizzy Gillespie at Finney Chapel

this month at The Apollo 

• Sleeper
• if …
• Harold and Maude 
• Cinderella Liberty
• Serpico

May 1974

Multiple front page articles in the May 14, 1974 Oberlin Review after a city and county drug raid on campus; nine students arrested, dorm phone service cut, city police chief suspended
 

As happens every year, per the May 14, 1974 Oberlin Review (p 5), town merchants stop taking student checks in excess of the purchase amount (some) or at all (others) ("students are not good mathematicians", says one store manager)

this month at The Apollo 

• Blazing Saddles
• Day For Night
• The Godfather 
• Magnum Force

The End ... er, "Commencement"