As long as there has been an Oberlin, Oberlinians have been changing the world. As an institution and as a community, Oberlin is characterized by a heady spirit of idealism. Do Oberlinians arrive with the conviction that a single person's efforts can have far-reaching effects, or does Oberlin instill this idealism in them? Most likely it is a combination of the two, one reinforcing the other. This spirit of idealism, this sense of conviction, unites the many different individuals in the Oberlin community. Student's vision and progressive thinking allows them to seize every opportunity as a learning experience.

Oberlin's progressive heritage reaches far back. In 1841, three women graduates were the first women in America to receive bachelor's degrees. Similarly, Oberlin decided to admit blacks in 1835, and by 1900 nearly half of all the black college graduates in the country - 128 to be exact - had graduated from Oberlin. Today, Oberlin's chapter of the Bonner Scholars Program provides scholarship funds to first generation and low-income students.

Programs focusing on cultural diversity have been part of Oberlin's new-student orientations since the early 1980's. Students are required to take at least nine credit hours in courses that deal with cultural diversity. Faculty members incorporate the environment, the experience of minorities and women, and other new areas into current courses, as well as developing new courses in these areas.

Freshman and sophomore colloquia are interdisciplinary, seminar style courses in which enrollment is limited to 15 students. Recent colloquia included "The Religious Thought of Mahatama Gandhi," "The Personal is Political: Representations of Activist Women in American History," "The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict," and "Explaining Social Power."

More than 350 students particpated in a year-long planning process with architects to ensure that Oberlin's new Center for Environmental Studies would not only house environmental studies courses, but would itself embody the principles of environmentally sustainable architecture. The building is powered by sunlight and causes no discharge or disposal of toxic materials.

For members of the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA), cooperative houses and dining rooms are as much a statement of political conviction as they are place to live and eat. Members emphasize the democratic nature of decision making in the four room-and-board co-ops and four board-only co-ops. Room and board costs are up to 30% less in the co-op. Co-ops purchase food from local family farms and send work crews every week to help in harvesting on the farms.