Oberlin College has recently taken legal action as part of their effort to silence journalism by website Legal Insurrection that has portrayed the school in a negative light.
Legal Insurrection, an online legal blog and news site, reported this week that Oberlin College has filed a subpoena against the site, demanding its communications with confidential sources for the site’s past reporting on the college. The subpoena primarily focuses on a Legal Insurrection report about Gibson’s Bakery, which filed a lawsuit against the college after college officials encouraged students to boycott the bakery.
In addition to the issues listed above, Legal Insurrection also has reported on a dispute between Oberlin College and a local bakery, Gibson’s Bakery, in Oberlin, Ohio. Legal Insurrection has reported on the arrest of three African-American Oberlin College students at the bakery for shoplifting, protests by students, faculty and staff of Oberlin College alleging racial profiling, boycotts of Gibson’s by the Oberlin College community including by the college itself, Oberlin town community reaction to the protests, the eventual conviction of the three students, and a lawsuit brought by Gibson’s Bakery against Oberlin College and its Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo.
The College has decided that they should request the communications between Gibson’s Bakery and Legal Insurrection. The site reports that if the legal system grants such information to the school, it would significantly impede on their ability to report on the college in the future.
Breitbart News reported this week that Oberlin College is facing “negative” ratings from credit agencies, potentially as a result of their sympathies for social justice activism. At the end of June, the Bond Buyer reported that the left-wing college was facing financial issues as a result of decreased enrollment.