COPAO's Mission Statement

The Committee on Privilege and Oppression (COPAO) is a coalition of OSCA members united to challenge issues of oppression and privilege within the OSCA Community. By facilitating dialogue and encouraging collective self-education we hope to promote a more open, respectful and critically aware community--a community more capable of living out the ideals of the co-operative movement.

Goals:

• Finding innovative, effective and inclusive ways to challenge issues of racism, sexism, heterosexism, religious oppression, gender oppression, classism, ableism and all other forms of oppression in the OSCA community.
• Becoming an ally organization—a committee of individuals who are committed to actively listening to and supporting members of OSCA who experience oppression of any and all kinds.
• Promoting change and social awareness on all levels of OSCA: individual, communal and institutional.
• Building relationships and coalitions with other campus organizations in order to promote and address social justice issues throughout the Oberlin campus.
• Recognizing that oppression and privilege exist in OSCA because systems of oppression and privilege exist in our society as a whole.  These systems are a part of all of us and affect us in different ways, and if we are not actively engaged in combating them then we are condoning them.