Oberlin College has a very distinctive character, and with every issue of the magazine it tries to come as close to possible to matching that. The magazine represents the school in all its complexities—its strengths and its shortcomings; the enthusiasm of its students and alumni, as well as their angst; its sense of purpose and its (nearly constant) arguments about that purpose.
From the Judges' Report
Oberlin was chockfull of interesting content that’s engaging, intellectual and approachable. The magazine does an excellent job of serving the Oberlin community, presenting it in a diverse, creative, and stylistic way. The pride that is evident in the magazine makes it attractive to readers outside of their core community, which serves the school well. The writing and content choices were thoughtful and affectionate. There was a wonderful variety of content that goes above and beyond the traditional, what-you-would-expect topics and presentations by an alumni magazine. The “Thought Process” section is dedicated to ideas, creativity, and its outcome through alumni poetry, drawings, book excerpt and interviews. They did a great job honoring their outgoing president, Krislov, and introducing the incoming president, Ambar. The use of illustration for Krislov who was very identifiable versus an up-close personal photo of Ambar was brilliant. Both feature stories, although lengthy, were a great read.
