Oberlin College
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Peters Hall and Oberlin Memorial Arch |
Oberlin College is a small liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, with a student population of approximately 3000. Oberlin College is home to the Oberlin Conservatory, a distinguished music school.
Oberlin was among the first colleges in the United States to accept African-American students (1835) and also the first coeducational institution. The first four women to enter as full students were Mary Kellogg (Fairchild), Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford, and Elizabeth Prall. All but Kellogg graduated.
The school's sports teams are called the Yeomen and Yeowomen. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oberlin's football team was the first team coached by legendary coach John Heisman, who led the team to a 7-0 record in 1892. In modern times, however, the football team was more famous for its 40 game losing streak which ended in October 2001.
Oberlin College is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium.
History
Both the college and the town of Oberlin, Ohio, were founded in 1833 by a pair of Presbyterian ministers, John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart. The ministers named their project after Jean Frederic Oberlin, an Alsatian minister they both admired. Oberlin attained prominence because of the influence of its second president, the evangelist Charles Finney.
The college was built on 500 acres (2 km²) of land explicitly donated by the previous owner, who lived in Connecticut. Shipherd and Stewart's vision was for both a religious community and school. For a more detailed history of the founding of the town and the college, see Oberlin, Ohio.
Notable Alumni
- Eric Bogosian (OC 1976), novelist
- Avery Brooks, actor
- James Burrows (OC 1962), producer and creator of Cheers
- Tracy Chevalier (OC 1984), novelist (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
- Stanley Cohen (Master's degree, 1945), Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine 1986)
- Charles Martin Hall, co-discoverer of the electrolytic process of producing aluminium
- Bill Irwin (OC 1973), actor and clown
- Daniel Kinsey, Olympic champion in 110 m hurdles
- Ed Helms, correspondent on The Daily Show
- John Mercer Langston, early civil rights activist
- Michelle Malkin, journalist and political commentator
- Robert Millikan, Nobel laureate (Physics 1923) for measuring the charge of the electron
- Liz Phair (OC 1989), rock musician
- Jane Pratt (OC 1984), creator of Sassy and Jane magazines
- David Rees, creator of My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable and Get Your War On
- Carl T. Rowan (OC 1947), journalist
- W. V. Quine (OC 1930), philosopher
- Roger Sperry, Nobel laureate (Physiology or Medicine 1981)
- William Grant Still, composer
- Lucy Stone, feminist
- Julie Taymor (OC 1974), theatrical and cinematic director
- William Westervelt, writer
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