Education

This week in bizarro, unconstitutional tyranny at and around Oberlin College

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The Daily Caller has taken a keen interest in Oberlin College after breaking the story about how an Obama-supporting white kid and his sidekick allegedly circulated virulently racist, anti-Jewish and anti-gay messages around campus. (RELATED: Students perpetrated cruel Oberlin race hoax)

Turns out, things just keep getting creepier at that hothouse of leftism 30 miles south of Cleveland.

As The Plain Dealer reports, Oberlin’s administration recently altered the school’s bizarre trespassing policy, which dates back to the 1970s.

Previously, the school had maintained a secret list of people blackballed from the campus. Only the school’s safety and security department and local police knew the names on the list.

School officials did not notify the individuals on the clandestine no-trespassing list that they were on it — or how long they had been on it, or how long they would stay on it. These people were also barred from finding out what they had done to merit placement on the list in the first place.

The Plain Dealer notes that minor infractions, such as playing sports without proper Oberlin identification or skateboarding on campus property, could lead to placement on the secret no-trespassing list. Serious crimes, like theft, could also be the cause.

People on the no-trespassing list continue to face arrest if campus police or real police spot them on campus.

A group of Oberlin students led the campaign to change the school regulation. At a February meeting attended by both students and townies, speakers lamented the gated-estate atmosphere at the school.

Under Oberlin’s new trespassing policy, campus security can issue a warning that someone is about to land on the dreaded list. The school will also now have an appeals process (it apparently had none before). Trespassers can also receive a list of property to avoid.

People who trespass in minor ways will now receive a one-year ban. Security will still issue longer and more permanent no-trespass orders for more serious crimes.

In other Oberlin news, the surrounding town — also called Oberlin – has come under criticism for a law prohibiting guns in city parks. The local ordinance conflicts with an Ohio law which generally allows guns in public places, including city parks.

A group of gun owners has sworn to take the town to court if the law is not changed, reports the Chronicle-Telegram.

A local city park has seen at least one standoff between a pro-gun faction and an anti-gun faction.

Sharon Pearson, a candidate for the Oberlin City Council, spoke for the anti-gun faction.

“It’s not a part of Oberlin’s culture and I feel as if we’re targeted because of that,” she told the Chronicle-Telegram. “Guns in public places are not safe.”

The surrounding town of Oberlin is home to 8,000 residents. Some 3,000 students attend Oberlin College.

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