Oberlin College Is Paying $36.6M to Local Bakery

Oberlin College has agreed to pay more than $36 million to the owners of a bakery across the street from the Ohio college, ending a long-running legal battle. Gibson's Bakery was initially awarded $44 million in punitive and compensatory damages after it sued the private college, arguing it had been defamed when administrators and faculty supported protests that falsely accused it of racism. A judge later reduced the award to $25 million. The $36.59 million the college has agreed to pay includes attorneys' fees and around $5 million in interest, the New York Times reports.

In November 2016, hundreds of students protested outside the family-owned bakery after the owner's son, who is white, confronted a Black student who had allegedly shoplifted wine. Two other Black students joined the altercation after Allyn Gibson chased the alleged shoplifter out of the store. The dean of students, Meredith Raimondo, was among college officials who attended the protests, where flyers claiming the bakery had a long history of racial profiling were handed out. Officials ordered the campus food provider to stop buying items from Gibson's, and a Student Senate resolution condemning the owners was emailed to all students and remained in a display case at a student center for a year, the AP reports.

All three students later pleaded guilty to various charges and said racism played no role in the incident. The bakery accused college officials of helping to organize protests and said Oberlin's stance had driven customers away. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court said it wouldn't take up the college's appeal of the judgment. Oberlin, long known for its progressive politics, said in a statement Thursday that it is disappointed by the top court's decision but it hopes the "end of the litigation will begin the healing of our entire community," the Times reports. The college, which has an endowment of almost $1 billion, said "careful financial planning," including insurance coverage, means it can pay the bakery "without impacting our academic and student experience." (More Oberlin College stories.)