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For nearly 200 years, Oberlin has offered one of the world’s great undergraduate educations. Here, students pursue multiple passions and interests within a supportive, collaborative community. We focus on undergraduate teaching, hands-on research projects, culturally immersive study away experiences, and world-class music opportunities.

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*Before I go any further, LIFE UPDATE: I work for Sports Illustrated now. It still blows my mind to believe that I write for one of the greatest sports publications EVER. However, with the Coronavirus pandemic running rampant, there isn't a lot of sports to talk about, so I felt inspired to write about this very special event in Oberlin history that occurred WAY back in the day. ENJOY!*

The game of football in the state of Ohio is viewed as very competitive when it comes to the people involved with it.

This includes the players, coaches, and especially the crazy fans who dedicate themselves to the teams they cheer for. However, this idea seems to apply more to the professional teams in Ohio, which are the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. This idea also applies more to high school football, where there are many historic rivalries which have lasted for decades, along with teams who have been historically great. However, when a person thinks of Ohio college football, he or she would think of Ohio State University, who has been very successful as of late. Ohio State’s dominance has been noticed on a national level for decades, with eight national championships and thirty-seven conference championships to show for it. This football team is almost always a contender for the National Championship, and it always recruits some of the best high school football players in the country because of its tremendous success over the years. The state of Ohio has many elite colleges; however, when I’m using the term “elite,” I’m referring to Ohio’s institutions academically. There is only one elite college football team in the state of Ohio, and that is Ohio State.

With all of that being said, it’s time to travel back in time.

The year is 1921. Football wasn’t quite as popular as it is now, but it was still very much a big deal, especially to Ohioans. There was a very significant football game that was played this year. This game featured the Ohio State Buckeyes, of course. Who did they play against? The Oberlin College Yeomen. A typical college football fan may seem confused at this point, and might ask the question, “Who?” Indeed, Oberlin College is definitely NOT known for its football. However, it is an elite academic institution and is also known for its incredible music program. “Oberlin is also famed for its music program, which turns out world-renowned sopranos and tenors with the same regularity that Penn State mints NFL linebackers” (Stone). However, it’s not a widely known school for its football team. Back in 1921, though, Oberlin football was a pretty big deal, especially with its own rich football roots.

Before I briefly discuss the 1921 Oberlin football team, I must also address the 1892 Oberlin football team, which is arguably the most famous and most successful football team in Oberlin’s history.

I’m referring to the 1892 team because the 1921 team is always being compared to them. The reason for this (Warning, spoiler alert!) is because both of these teams had undefeated seasons. “The 1921 team was the first Oberlin squad to record an undefeated season since the 1892 varsity did so almost thirty years earlier” (Brandt 160). Therefore, people throughout history have constantly compared and referenced these two teams as being great displays of Oberlin’s glory days in football.

This 1892 team featured one particular player/coach who is quite well-known in the world of sports. That player/coach is John Heisman, who is seen by many to be one of the greatest football players to ever live. Heisman did indeed coach the team as well as play for it. People could actually do that back then, as long as they were enrolled in the college they were playing and coaching for. However, people don’t coach and play for a team these days, because the game of football is a lot more complex. Also it’s a violation of the NCAA rules and regulations. Heisman was also Oberlin’s very first football coach, which makes his significance at the college even greater.

Therefore, Heisman and his greatness with the 1892 team tends to overshadow Oberlin’s 1921 team and all it had accomplished at its time.

The 1921 Oberlin College football team is often overlooked and lost in the shadow of the 1892 team’s greatness. However, the 1921 team was just as great and just as significant, if not even more so. This all ties back to the fact that this Oberlin team was the last team before Ohio State to reign supreme in the game of football in the state of Ohio.

Ever since 1922, Ohio State has been the best team in the state. Schools larger than Oberlin such as Ohio University, the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, and Youngstown State University have all failed at trying to defeat the Ohio State Buckeyes. Of all teams, the Oberlin College Yeomen were the last group of men to defeat Ohio State, and this occurred nearly a century ago. This fact alone displays the greatness of that 1921 Oberlin football team, who were also expected to lose that game against Ohio State.

How did Oberlin do it? How in the world did Oberlin College of all teams defeat the great Ohio State in 1921?

The Buckeyes were indeed predicted to win that game, which made the Yeomen underdogs. Oberlin was David, and Ohio State was Goliath. Sure, Oberlin was still considered to be a respected football school. However, Oberlin hadn’t been considered as an elite football program since the Heisman years decades prior to this game. This made no difference for the Yeomen, who were highly determined to face this challenge.

As for the Ohio State football players, they were highly confident in their abilities to defeat Oberlin. In fact, they felt highly superior to Oberlin and believed it would be an easy task to beat them with ease. “The Buckeyes didn’t seem worried about the conditions or the game, which the Columbus Dispatch regarded as a 'practice game'” (Podolski). Ohio State wasn’t worried about Oberlin, to say the least. Here is some context which displays why Ohio State felt so confident: “It made sense since OSU beat Oberlin, 37-0, the year before, and 128-0 in 1916” (Podolski). 128-0 is a score that is an absolute atrocity, even back then. It’s completely understandable for Ohio State to approach this game with extreme confidence.

There was also another advantage which Ohio State benefitted from, and that was the fact that Ohio State was becoming a much larger school than Oberlin was. “Before the turn of the 20th century, Ohio State and Oberlin were comparative in size, but by 1921, Ohio State’s enrollment grew to over four times the size of Oberlin’s student body” (GoYeo.com). Because of Ohio State’s growing population, it gained access to a lot more talent than Oberlin did, and this also applies to how the two schools compare to this day.

While Ohio State approached the game with little to no concern, Oberlin felt highly disrespected.

Any team who is highly favored to lose by the community and the media would feel this way. Therefore, Oberlin did what an upset yet determined football team would do at this point; they prepared with high intensity and heavy focus. People all across the state of Ohio as well as the rest of the United States of America believed Oberlin would lose to Ohio State again. That thought more than likely angered and motivated the Yeomen to rise to the challenge and conquer it, which would shut the mouths of all the doubters who had their own negative opinions about them.

The game itself seemed to be quite sloppy.

The two teams played on a very wet field in Columbus, Ohio. “As for the game, it was played on Oct. 8, 1921, and conditions at Ohio Field were soggy because of heavy rain the night before” (Podolski). Usually, football games that are played on soggy fields tend to have very low scores. This fact remained true with this particular college football game in October. The final score only consisted of two touchdowns total. Playing football on a wet field is extremely difficult, because it limits the mobility for both teams. Also, this makes aspects such as carrying and throwing the football a lot more difficult, because the moisture that the football is exposed to makes it very wet. This also means the game was played on a muddy field, because Ohio Stadium consisted of grass. Turf wasn’t a concept that was developed until later in history. The Yeomen didn’t use this as an excuse to give up, though; they persevered.

At first, “the Buckeyes gained the lead in the first five minutes of the game after they scooped up a blocked Yeomen punt and scored” (GoYeo.com). This didn’t stop Oberlin, though. In fact, the next statement is the ultimate display of the grit the Oberlin football team had at the time: “The Buckeye score would be the last time Ohio State crossed Oberlin’s goal line” (GoYeo.com). Oberlin scored a touchdown late in the game, and their kicker made the PAT, which is the point after the touchdown. The score ended up being 7-6, and Oberlin defeated Ohio State.

This achievement is one Oberlin College still cherishes.

As a "retired" football player for Oberlin College, I can assure people that the win over Ohio State in 1921 is still indeed a huge deal to many people. It’s significant to many Oberlin alumni. It’s significant to the people in the town of Oberlin. It’s significant to the current players and coaches who represent the Yeomen.

I believe it should be a significant fact to anybody who cares about Oberlin College. At the end of the day, who else is going to cherish this historic victory? Since 1921, Ohio State has never lost to a college in the state of Ohio. The last Ohio team to do so is Oberlin, and that is indeed something to be proud of.

SOURCES:

Brandt, Nat. When Oberlin Was King of the Gridiron: The Heisman Years. Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College, 2001. Print.

<http://www.goyeo.com/hof.aspx?hof=153&path=hc&kiosk=>.

Podolski, Mark. “College Football: Oberlin College Still Savors Historic Win over Ohio State in 1921.” Morning Journal, 26 Sept. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

Stone, Christian. “LOST GLORY OBERLIN IS JOHN HEISMAN’S ALMA MATER AND A FABLED CONQUEROR OF OHIO STATE, BUT THE YEOMEN HAVE HAD LITTLE TO CELEBRATE LATELY.” SI.com. Sports illustrated, 26 Aug. 1996. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.

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One of my favorite family traditions is our annual Super Bowl party. I feel like it’s relatively standard; my dad crafts an incredible spread of snacks and appetizers that my sisters and I eat faster than we should, and my mom, who usually makes dinner, enjoys a well-deserved night off from cooking. I keep a steady watch on the score of the game, not because I care who wins*, but rather in hopes that the points will align with my name on our family football prize squares, and I’ll get a few bucks out of it.

The late January to early February start of the Spring semester at Oberlin is nice for all reasons except the Super Bowl. Both years I’ve been here, the first day of classes began the next morning, so I was already back in Ohio while my family ate all of their snacks without me in New York. My first year at Oberlin, my dad helped me bridge this gap by getting me some classic, hometown favorite Super Bowl foods to bring back to school. My original plan was to share this food with a friend I planned to watch the game with. Less fun than at home, but it was something, right? I never got to find out how that would have gone, because our game plan changed when I got back to campus.

The friend I mentioned found out that there was going to be a Super Bowl screening at the ‘Sco, the student nightclub on campus, which he favored over our plan because of the convenience and the big screen. Disappointed that my snacks couldn’t come along, I reluctantly joined him. To my surprise, the screening was a lot more fun than I originally anticipated. There was pizza, so I still got food like I wanted, the screen was significantly bigger than a dorm TV, and there were many more people to sit back and enjoy the game with. The best part, however, was that there were football squares, which I thought I would miss out on by not being at home. These squares gave away prizes instead of cash, and I sadly didn’t win anything, but even a year later, I’m glad I had the opportunity to participate.

At the very end of January, when I came back to campus for Spring semester round two, I didn’t even bother bringing Super Bowl snacks because I knew ahead of time that there would be a party at the ‘Sco. It was a warm night for Ohio February (I miss that right now, it’s snowing as I write this), which helped soften the stress of starting school in the morning. Another thing great at softening stress is free food, and when I walked inside, I got some pizza. There was also cake, pretzels, and skittles, the last of which were meant to be used as markers for a game of Commercial Bingo (which I played, but it didn’t stop me from eating some skittles). Football squares were happening again, as was a raffle, which you got a ticket for automatically when you walked in the door. There were prizes of all sizes throughout the game, ranging from candy, to Cleveland Cavaliers tickets, to a milkshake machine. I ended up winning a couple of small things, specifically a stress ball shaped like a football (for getting bingo after the bigger bingo prizes were gone), and a nice five subject notebook (from the ticket raffle).

That about sums up my two Oberlin Super Bowl experiences, but there is one crucial detail to this story that I’m still missing: what happened to the snacks I brought in 2019? Don’t worry, they definitely got eaten. After the game, I met up with some friends who were much less into watching football games (but still very into snacks) and shared with them. This was the perfect solution, because it served as a second sort of welcome back party that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t go to the one at the ‘Sco. Yay for more parties!

*The exception to me not caring who wins is the Patriots. Being from Buffalo, I have to root against them. My home team, the Bills, is not an exception, because they have not made it to the Super Bowl once in the entire two decades I’ve been alive, and I doubt that will change anytime soon. However, if sometime in the next three years the odds of the universe change and the Bills make it to the Super Bowl, I will not be at the Oberlin Super Bowl party. Instead, I will be in my hometown, where the festivities will inevitably be insane, and (quite literally) a once in a lifetime experience. Definitely worth missing the first class or two of the semester.

This spring, a class of Oberlin students is studying the history of medicine, the biology of cancer, and ancient practices of magic and witchcraft, all while immersing themselves in the culture and history of London.

The Danenburg Oberlin-in-London program is an interdisciplinary study away offered each spring. It gives students the opportunity to take classes with two Oberlin faculty from different departments while also learning about London’s history and theater.

This year’s program is led by faculty members Maureen Peters, associate professor of biology, and Drew Wilburn, associate professor and chair of classics, with courses geared toward students majoring in life sciences and preparing for health careers. Resident Director Donna Vinter teaches the London Stage.

“We worked hard through our advertising and networking to make this opportunity widely known to science students since they have fewer study abroad opportunities that count toward their majors,” Peters says. “We had a big turnout from the life sciences. In fact, we had to turn away some very talented applicants this year, which was hard to do.”

Peters and Wilburn have teamed up to teach The History of Medicine: Germs, Sex, and the Brain, an interdisciplinary course that counts toward a major in biology, classics, or history. The class traces the development of scientific methods for understanding the body from antiquity to modernity. It’s full of juicy topics such as infectious diseases, epidemics, mental health and madness, and sexuality and reproductive health.

Wilburn has previously worked in the British Museum for his research on ancient magic. He’s teaching a classics course that traces the history of magic and witchcraft in the United Kingdom, with a special focus on the ways in which magic has been contrasted and opposed to established religion.

He says the material in the team course has helped him put ancient concerns into greater perspective.

“The joint course has helped me think about how prevalent concerns about health were in the pre-modern world, where magic and religion—in addition to bleeding—were the major kinds of ‘medicine’ that most people used. I’ve realized how much has changed because of scientific discoveries. I am thinking more about how medical amulets and protections against the evil eye are related to fears about infectious disease, which could easily kill you or your young children.”

Peters teaches genetics and researches the digestive program of C. elegans —microscopic worms that serve as model organisms to study biological processes, which can be applied to more complex organisms—using molecular genetics approaches. She says the resources in London—the museums, lectures, and site visits—have been astounding.

The Wellcome Collection, a medical, art, and science museum that’s a 10-minute walk from Oberlin’s remote campus, has been a second home for the group and a never-ending resource of material, Peters says. In February, the Wellcome presented the “Sick of the Fringe”, a series of lectures and performances on the topics of health, medical illness, and disability from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that students were able to attend.

In their first trip out of London, the group visited the house of Dr. Edward Jenner, the pioneer of vaccination against smallpox, where they listened to a lecture that highlighted the contributions of D.A. Henderson ’50. They also visited Stonehenge, Bath, and Gloucester Cathedral, with more visits planned for Edinburgh, the Foundling Museum, and Bethlem Museum of the Mind. And at the Hunterian Museum, which is the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, they’ve browsed the massive collection of specimens in jars on permanent display.

Peters is teaching the Biology of Cancer, a course designed especially for life sciences majors, that looks at the disease from the smallest to the largest biological perspectives. London is the home of important biomedical research centers, such as the University College London Cancer Institute and the Francis Crick Institute.

“Our teaching center is just down the street for University College London, which is an amazing research center,” Peters says. “I have been able to go to many talks from cutting-edge researchers around the world. Many of these talks gather massive information about the genetic changes that underlie cancer cells’ ability to circumvent our bodies’ energy sources and other resources for their own benefit. While my own research area is not specifically cancer genetics, I can use these novel approaches to answer the research questions that drive me.”

Third-year Julie Watiker, a biology major, has been researching the history of rabies at the British Library and the Wellcome Collection for her semester-long project in the History of Medicine course.

“I found several books and pamphlets from the 18th century on how rabies was treated, and it was really interesting to be able to read the original texts on how people understood the disease before modern science,” says Watiker, who is from Scarsdale, New York, and intends to apply to veterinary school beginning this summer. “Studying the history of medicine and researching rabies, as well as the biology of cancer, has really helped me understand that going to veterinary school is the right step for me. I even took a tour at the Royal Veterinary College in London, and I plan to apply.”

Watiker says the integration of field trips into the coursework, such as the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret in London, or a day trip learning about all the scientific discoveries to come out of Cambridge, has been an experience like no other. And because she elected to take The London Stage as her third course, the program has given her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become immersed in the city’s theater scene.

“We see a new play every week, ranging from large stage productions with Daniel Radcliffe in the West End, to smaller, more experimental productions in the basements of town halls. Being able to read, discuss a play, and then see the plays has been an invaluable experience, and has really enhanced my time in London. I would never have the opportunity to do that outside of this program.”

The program wraps up May 1. The spring 2018 theme will focus on the relation between nature and culture in Britain with courses taught by Janet Fiskio, associate professor of environmental studies and comparative American studies, and T.S. McMillin, professor of English.

One of the most powerful aspects of an Oberlin education is the mentorship relationships that students and professors foster together.

It’s no accident that Associate Professor of Africana studies Meredith Gadsby and her former student, Caitlin O’Neill ’11, have served on three panels together since O’Neill graduated. It’s the product of positive and effective mentorship, and a relationship that encouraged O’Neill, a PhD candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, to cultivate a passion for research and professorship.

As an undergraduate student, O’Neill worked closely with Gadsby as a Mellon Mays Fellow, a paid two-year research fellowship for PhD-track students geared toward increasing faculty diversity in higher education. Gadsby chaired O’Neill’s undergraduate research project, which closely aligned with her own academic and professional interests in Africana studies. Most recently, the duo participated in a panel about Afrofuturism in Associate Professor Charles Peterson’s “Exploring Beauty and Truth in Worlds of Color” conference.

“We often talk to students about the importance of research and different pathways for research,” Gadsby says. “To see the degree to which mentoring relationships don’t have to end with your undergraduate career, that they can persist, is a powerful way for Oberlin to see the fruits of its labor in terms of the Mellon program and also the powerful impact the Office of Undergraduate Research has.”

Gadsby and O’Neill’s communication has extended well past the years they spent together at Oberlin. O’Neill still checks in with her former professor for advice on subjects ranging from navigating graduate school to bouncing around ideas for research.

“I was recently in the process of submitting my first article, but when I first got accepted I texted Meredith and said, ‘What do I do?’” O’Neill says. “A lot of this has just been how gracious Meredith has been to continue being in communication with me.”

This type of close-knit mentorship is not an anomaly at Oberlin. With small class sizes and opportunities to conduct intensive research projects with faculty members, students often foster close relationships with professors that help shape their post-graduate paths.

Fourth-year Monique Newton, another Mellon fellow, has benefited from mentorship with Peterson and Assistant Professor of Politics Jennifer Garcia. Newton’s research focuses on African American voter turnout and responses in Cleveland, but her project doesn’t fit neatly into one academic department. Having professors from two departments, whose offices she can regularly drop by to develop ideas and invoke their expertise, has allowed her to advance the project far beyond its initial parameters.

“Coming here, not really knowing a lot about politics or thinking about it as a field of interest, I’ve really relied on my professors to give me more information,” Newton says. “Whenever I’m interested in something or want to talk about something, Professor Garcia is really good to bounce ideas off of and get feedback. Without all of my professors, I don’t know where I’d be.”

And the learning exchange goes both ways—in mentorship roles, faculty members get to know students on a personal level and sometimes even incorporate student research into their pedagogy.

“I may have had broad ideas about the topic when Monique first brought it to me, but I’m learning a lot now and think it’s really improving my ability to teach about African American politics,” says Peterson, who chairs Newton’s Mellon research. “Now there are questions I’m thinking about as I’m lecturing, teaching in class, and formulating new syllabi that are informed by Monique’s research.”

Newton will present her research at the Celebration of Undergraduate Research at the end of the month.