Image by wikipedia

Oberlin College canceled classes to convene a “day of solidarity” following a series of racial and anti-Semitic incidents.

Image by wikipedia

Classes at the school in northern Ohio were suspended on Monday after someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan-like hood and robe was seen walking on campus, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“This event, in addition to the series of other hate-related incidents on campus, has precipitated our decision to suspend formal classes and all non-essential activities for today, Monday, March 4, 2013, and gather for a series of discussions of the challenging issues that have faced our community in recent weeks,” read a statement on the college’s website signed by the president of the college, Marvin Krislov, who is Jewish, as well as the deans of the individual schools.

The statement asked all students, faculty and staff to participate in the day’s events.

Swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti were discovered on the campus at the beginning and end of last month, according to reports. Racist and homophobic graffiti also was discovered in early February.

“It’s really strange and sad in such a lovely environment that someone would come in and do something so inflammatory in order to make Jews and other people feel uncomfortable,” Rabbi Shimon Brand, director of the Oberlin College Hillel, told the Cleveland Jewish News.

Guides to colleges routinely list Oberlin as among the most liberal, activist and gay-friendly schools in the country, according to The New York Times.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount