Oberlin Student Cooperative Association

The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) is a $2.6 million dollar non-profit corporation that feeds 640 and houses 174 Oberlin College students.^[1] 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.

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

Principles

From OSCA's web site:

The principles which guide modern cooperative organizations including OSCA were formulated in 1844 by a group of textile workers in Rochdale, England who were fed up with the exploitative nature of the market during the British Industrial Revolution. 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

Co-opers cooking at Fairchild.

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.

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 dormitory 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.

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-income 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.

Tank Co-op

Tank’s membership, known affectionately as “Tankers,” is approximately 90 people, with a rather high proportion of older co-opers. Members of Tank enjoy a primarily vegetarian diet, with some meat. It’s common to see Tankers congregating on the porch and the lawn when the weather is nice. Tank also hosts an annual pig roast in the Spring, a tradition that brings many OSCA members to enjoy good times and good company.

References

1. ^ Batdorff, Lee. Locally grown food on Oberlin's menu; College's co-op wants short paths from farm to plate. Crain's Cleveland Business. 13 May 2002. Archived 19 May 2011 at WebCite
2. ^ eds. Emma Blose, Rachel Marcus, Seitan, pg 26. OSCA Publications, November 2003.
3. ^ OSCA, "The Co-ops"^{[dead link]}
4. ^ OSCA, "Introduction to OSCA"
5. ^ http://osca.wilder.oberlin.edu/needs/dietary.html%7Caccessdate=May 2, 2010 Archived 19 May 2011 at WebCite

External links

• The OSCA homepage