Oberlin Student Cooperative Association
Encyclopedia
The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) is a $2.6 million dollar non-profit corporation that feeds 640 and houses 174 Oberlin College
students. It is located in the town of Oberlin, Ohio
, and is independent from but closely tied to Oberlin College. OSCA is the second-largest student cooperative
in North America
. It is by far the biggest per-capita of any student co-op, considering that Oberlin College has approximately 2900 students.
In the spring of 2002, OSCA created the institution of COPAO, the Committee on Privilege and Oppression, which explores racial and socio-economic inequality within the cooperative system.
OSCA employs four employees: a Business Coordinator, a Financial Manager, a Food Safety Advisor, and an Office Assistant. OSCA members fill all other positions within the co-ops. For example, the President of OSCA, Education Coordinator, head cook, and kitchen prep are all positions filled by Oberlin student members of OSCA. Members of OSCA do all of the cooking, clean up, food buying, composting, and other tasks within their individual co-ops. Each co-op decides at the beginning of each semester how much time members need to put in (usually about five hours a week). For those who hold jobs outside of the co-op, most co-ops will offer “time aid” to significantly reduce the number of co-op hours required. Every member of OSCA must clean up after one meal a week.
Every spring, OSCA members vote for the corporation's officers for the next year. These officers, along with the two Operations Managers, the two Cleanliness and Maintenance Coordinators, one of two Education Coordinators, the Financial Manager, the Business Coordinator, the Office Assistant, the Food Safety Advisor and the OSCA/Oberlin College Liaison make up the General Management Team, or the GMT. The GMT deals with the day-to-day operations of the co-ops. The Board of Directors is made up of two representatives from every co-op as well as a Chair of the Board. These members then elect which staff positions should also sit on the Board.
There are no meal cards or cafeteria trays in co-ops. Communal meals are prepared at least for lunch at 12:20 pm and dinner at 6:20 pm, and the kitchens are open 24/7. Guest policies are set by members so they can bring friends and professors to meals. Many co-ops are vegetarian and vegan-friendly, and allergy awareness among the membership is always a priority.
Fairchild: More colloquially known as “Fairkid,” this co-op is located in the basement of the Fairchild residence hall. Despite the relaxed atmosphere, Fairchild members are very passionate about their food politics, and strive to serve primarily vegan food that incorporates as many local and fair-trade elements as possible. Bananas have been banned on the premises since 1983 due to difficulty of finding fair trade providers that work against maltreatment of workers, and it is also very unlikely to encounter cane sugar in the co-op.
building. Known as "Sharkness", Harkness is traditionally represented by the image of a pirate (as opposed to the viking symbol of its longstanding rival, Keep). Harkness is known for its vegetarian food policy. Like much of OSCA, Harkness buys almost entirely local, fair trade
, or organic
foods. Harkness also has a reputation as a hotbed of student activism
; members often travel to take part in major protests, such as a protest at the G20 summit during the 2009-10 academic year. Environmental awareness, social justice
, and animal rights
are key components of the co-op's policies.
students, international students, and first-generation college students. It is a community that promotes coalition building through work and dialogue among people of different socioeconomic, cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. Its mélange of different cultural foods and styles of cooking has earned it a reputation of having some of the best food on campus. It is the only co-op with a programming budget, which is used to bring speakers and plan activities relating to marginalized groups. Membership is by application.
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
students. It is located in the town of Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
, and is independent from but closely tied to Oberlin College. OSCA is the second-largest student cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. It is by far the biggest per-capita of any student co-op, considering that Oberlin College has approximately 2900 students.
History
Co-ops began in Oberlin in 1950. The organization incorporated as The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association in 1962.In the spring of 2002, OSCA created the institution of COPAO, the Committee on Privilege and Oppression, which explores racial and socio-economic inequality within the cooperative system.
Facilities
OSCA operates four coops with housing and dining facilities: Keep, Tank, Old Barrows, and Harkness. It also has five dining-only co-ops: Fairchild Co-op, Pyle Inn Co-op, Kosher Halal Co-op, Third World Co-op, and the Brown Bag Co-op. All of these coops are located inside of Oberlin College-owned buildings.Operations
OSCA pays rent to the College for use of its buildings. In exchange, it operates almost completely autonomously. Student members vote by OSCA's consensus process on all rules, both for the system as a whole and its individual housing and dining coops. Members also implement and enforce virtually all decisions.OSCA employs four employees: a Business Coordinator, a Financial Manager, a Food Safety Advisor, and an Office Assistant. OSCA members fill all other positions within the co-ops. For example, the President of OSCA, Education Coordinator, head cook, and kitchen prep are all positions filled by Oberlin student members of OSCA. Members of OSCA do all of the cooking, clean up, food buying, composting, and other tasks within their individual co-ops. Each co-op decides at the beginning of each semester how much time members need to put in (usually about five hours a week). For those who hold jobs outside of the co-op, most co-ops will offer “time aid” to significantly reduce the number of co-op hours required. Every member of OSCA must clean up after one meal a week.
Every spring, OSCA members vote for the corporation's officers for the next year. These officers, along with the two Operations Managers, the two Cleanliness and Maintenance Coordinators, one of two Education Coordinators, the Financial Manager, the Business Coordinator, the Office Assistant, the Food Safety Advisor and the OSCA/Oberlin College Liaison make up the General Management Team, or the GMT. The GMT deals with the day-to-day operations of the co-ops. The Board of Directors is made up of two representatives from every co-op as well as a Chair of the Board. These members then elect which staff positions should also sit on the Board.
There are no meal cards or cafeteria trays in co-ops. Communal meals are prepared at least for lunch at 12:20 pm and dinner at 6:20 pm, and the kitchens are open 24/7. Guest policies are set by members so they can bring friends and professors to meals. Many co-ops are vegetarian and vegan-friendly, and allergy awareness among the membership is always a priority.
Principles
From OSCA's web site:
- The principles
Rochdale PrinciplesThe Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. They were first set out by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Rochdale, England, in 1844, and have formed the basis for the principles on which co-operatives around the world operate to this day. The...
which guide modern cooperative organizations including OSCA were formulated in 1844 by a group of textile workers in RochdaleRochdaleRochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
who were fed up with the exploitative nature of the market during the British Industrial RevolutionIndustrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
. They decided to pool their money and open a small retail store which operated on principles which have become the foundation of modern co-ops.
- These principles are:
- Open membership
- Democratic control
- Limited return, if any, on equity capital
- Distribution of economic savings
- Education of members
- Cooperation among cooperatives
- Political nonpartisanship
Brown Bag Co-op
Brown Bag Co-op (BBC) is the only grocery-style co-op in OSCA. Because of its unique set-up, BBC is only available to upperclassmen who have off-campus housing.Fairchild Co-op
Harkness Co-op
Harkness Co-op is a housing and dining cooperative that is part of the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association. Harkness houses up to 64 students and feeds up to 110 in Harkness House, a college-owned dormitoryDormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
building. Known as "Sharkness", Harkness is traditionally represented by the image of a pirate (as opposed to the viking symbol of its longstanding rival, Keep). Harkness is known for its vegetarian food policy. Like much of OSCA, Harkness buys almost entirely local, fair trade
Fair trade
Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries make better trading conditions and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as higher social and environmental standards...
, or organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
foods. Harkness also has a reputation as a hotbed of student activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
; members often travel to take part in major protests, such as a protest at the G20 summit during the 2009-10 academic year. Environmental awareness, social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, and animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
are key components of the co-op's policies.
Keep Co-op
Keep is known as one of the more energetic and youthful co-ops in OSCA, with one of the largest populations of freshmen members in one co-op. It is also one of the most musical co-ops, with many a night filled with the sounds of banjo strumming wafting from the sprawling front porch. In addition, Keep is the home of the Bike Co-op, Oberlin’s co-op-run bicycle repair shop. Keep’s dining policies lean towards vegetarianism with the occasional meat dish.Kosher Halal Co-op
Kosher Halal Co-op (KHC) is a unique part of OSCA. It provides at-cost Kosher and Halal food to roughly 30 members every year, as well as expanding its membership for major holidays such as Passover and Eid Al-Adha. Priority is given to students who follow these dietary laws, but all are welcome to join. KHC also prepares a Friday night meal that is open to the larger Oberlin College community. The College’s Rabbi serves as a religious advisor to the co-op and is an integral member of the community. Applications are available for priority membership in KHC, based on religious or dietary need.Old Barrows Co-op
As one of the oldest co-ops in OSCA, “Old B” has cultivated a dynamic and gourmet food policy. Their meals are known to be some of the finest in OSCA, and Old Barrows has also been known to have an in-house ice cream and yogurt maker. OSCA’s smallest housing co-op, Old B houses a quiet community of upperclassmen who have the option of determining the co-op as a safe space for women and/or transgender students.Pyle Co-op
Located on the bottom floor of Asia House and comprising over 100 members, Pyle is conveniently located in the middle of campus and serves primarily vegetarian food with some meat as well, depending on who’s cooking. Members of Pyle are also known for their lively mealtime discussions and their weekly theme meals.Third World Co-op
Third World Co-op (TWC) is a co-op that emerged from the Third World Liberation Front of the 90s. TWC is a safe space for students of color, low-incomestudents, international students, and first-generation college students. It is a community that promotes coalition building through work and dialogue among people of different socioeconomic, cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds. Its mélange of different cultural foods and styles of cooking has earned it a reputation of having some of the best food on campus. It is the only co-op with a programming budget, which is used to bring speakers and plan activities relating to marginalized groups. Membership is by application.