Some students at Oberlin College are taking their demands for diversity and racial inclusion to the dining hall, asking for more traditional meals and criticizing what they consider poor efforts at multicultural cooking.
It is the latest skirmish in a year marked by
protests and other actions by college students to challenge the cultural and racial status quo on campuses across America.
The students at the college in Oberlin, Ohio, are accusing the campus dining department and Bon Appé### Management Company, the main dining vendor, of a litany of offenses that range from cultural appropriation to cultural insensitivity.
Earlier this month, students with the school’s black student union protested outside of the dining hall at the Afrikan Heritage House, after demands for more traditional meals, including more fried chicken, went unmet,
according to the campus paper, The Oberlin Review.
“I would like to see Bon Appé### fired and replaced by something other than an international corporation,” a student, Kendra Farrakhan, wrote to the paper. “I would like to see the chefs have the respect and autonomy to cook the food they love.”
Another article, published by The Review in November, detailed what students said were instances of cultural appropriation carried out by Bon Appé###. The culinary culprits included a soggy, pulled-pork-and-coleslaw sandwich that tried to pass itself off as a traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwich; a Chinese General Tso’s chicken dish made with steamed instead of fried poultry; and some poorly prepared Japanese sushi.
“When you’re cooking a country’s dish for other people, including ones who have never tried the original dish before, you’re also representing the meaning of the dish as well as its culture,” Tomoyo Joshi, a student from Japan,
told the paper. “So if people not from that heritage take food, modify it and serve it as ‘authentic,’ it is appropriative.”
Michele Gross, Oberlin’s director of dining services, said in a statement on Monday that “in our efforts to provide a vibrant menu, we recently fell short in the execution of several dishes in a manner that was culturally insensitive.”
She added: “We have met with students to discuss their concerns and hope to continue this dialogue.”
Cultural appropriation, a term
defined as the taking over of creative or artistic forms, themes or practices by one cultural group from another, has been a perennial source of debate at college campuses,
especially around Halloween. But in the context of the cafeteria at Oberlin, the criticism seemed
too far a stretch for some.
“When you’re defending the cultural authenticity of GENERAL TSO’S CHICKEN, you’re a living Portlandia sketch,” Fredrik deBoer, an academic,
wrote on Twitter, in a reference to the
IFC show that satirizes Oregon hipsters.
On Monday, Bonnie Powell, the communications director for Bon Appé###, said in an email that the company would address student complaints.
“We appreciate the feedback we have received from Oberlin students. Our chefs are working hard to offer culturally sensitive menus that will appeal to the Oberlin community,” Ms. Powell wrote.
General Tso’s chicken aside, students on campus appear to be struggling with deeper racial and cultural rifts. Oberlin made national news in 2013, when
class was canceled over security concerns after racist graffiti and fliers were distributed across campus. (This year, in Missouri,
the same behaviors led to student protests and, eventually, the ouster of high-ranking campus officials.)
Last week, Oberlin’s black student union
issued a list of demands to campus administrators, which include the creation of segregated safe spaces for black students on campus, and an annual 4 percent increase in black student enrollment.
“These are demands and not suggestions,” the document read. “If these demands are not taken seriously, immediate action from the Africana community will follow.”
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