Yeworkwha Belachew, better known to students as YB, works as Oberlin’s ombudsperson. She has worked at Oberlin for 26 years.

What is the Office of the Ombudsperson? What are your primary responsibilities?
It’s an independent position within the institution. I’m a neutral party. I’m here to listen. Sometimes an Ombudsperson seems an very powerful person but really the power belongs to the people. About 80 percent of my time is spent mediating between individuals: student to student, student to faculty, employee to supervisor, sometimes even parent to institution. Mainly I’m used as a red-tape cutter. At least when I first started here there was a delay in people responding to issues and concerns. I’m very blessed to work at an institution where my input is really valued but I still have to work extremely hard. This is a twenty-four/seven job.

How did you first wind up at Oberlin?
A position opened as a residence hall director and my then-husband got a job teaching in the African-American studies department. 26 years later I’m still here.

What was it like raising a son in College residence halls?
It was great. That was the best thing, both, for us and for the students. He was instrumental in helping me connect with students. People who didn’t even know my name, knew me as Meiraff’s mom. As a single mother it was very helpful for me to be in the hall. Every student was my son’s big brother or sister. Even today, he has remained connected with most of them. Today, he functions like an Obie, in his way of life and commitment to social justice. He works with the children of displaced families in California.

Tell me a little about how the ombuds office was created.
I had actually intended to leave Oberlin, when President Dye created the Ombuds position and asked me to develop a mediation program within this office. This position came with independence, neutrality and confidentiality. Also, it lies outside of the formal grievance policies and procedures. People come here voluntarily to resolve their issues in a manner such that they have agency in the outcome. I don't tell them what to do.

You spent many years working in the ResLife office. What do you think of the new changes in ResEd?
A long time ago, when I came to Oberlin, the Residential Life office was primarily developmental. Our main task was nurturing each student grow from their first year until graduation. Educational programs were emphasized and many able directors were quite helpful in making this goal a reality.

Later on when we started consolidating residence halls and shrinking the size of the staff, the department seemed more administrative or business oriented to students.

I’m assuming that what is meant by “education” in ResEd is that the emphasis is changing again. Just the fact that the name says ResEd will help students be more connected to their communities in the halls and a serve as a laboratory that compliments the classroom expereince. During my time as an assistant dean in ResLife, one of my primary responsibilities was to supervise student activities and educational programs, and to foster relationships with the students, in general. Visibility was a high priority There were more opportunities to do one-on-one work with students and I’m glad we seem to be returning to that.

What do you hope will come out of this strategic planning process?
Hopefully we can change the culture, meaning that the frustrations of students wanting to be heard will eventually be eliminated. I hope that students will be given the opportunity to better understand how this college works and to develop trust and a meaningful relation with the administration. l’d like to see students less worried about how the school is run and would like to see collaborative efforts being made in attending to the needs of students, so that a friendlier atmosphere can be created on this campus. This will result in not having 2800 student administrators but instead having happier and well-connected students.

After 26 years here, what is your overall impression of Oberlin students?
Oberlin students were always inquisitive. That will never change. I think Oberlin students are very unique as compared to their counterparts at other institutions. That makes life here very exciting. Lately, when given the opportunity to fully participate in the Strategic Planning process, students proved to be immensely helpful. While idealistic, they were also able to provide realistic recommendations based on the information provided. Given the necessary tools and respect, Oberlin students have always risen to the occasion.