A note from the editor: Do not be silent

Dear EC,

The past few hours have been appalling, with two back-to-back incidents of hate on campus.

Yesterday evening, October 21, The Leader broke a story about racial and homophobic slurs found written on a Niebuhr bathroom mirror. Today, October 22, we published another story of more hateful messages found in the same bathroom this afternoon, this time involving the N-word. These two occurrences come just a month after a Neo-Nazi sticker was found on a campus light-pole.

As the editor-in-chief of the campus newspaper, my job is to report campus news and inform the student body about what is happening at their school. Today has been a busy day in the newsroom, following all the breaking news updates and reporting it in a timely manner on our website and social media.

But even while this is my job and a job I am proud to do, I cannot help feel numb and sick to all that has happened in the last few hours. This isn’t what our campus is supposed to be. This doesn’t go at all with the values of “diversity and inclusion” that we continually speak of so often.

It feels like something is broken.

While steps are being taken by the school to investigate these instances, like in many scenarios, the burden of standing up falls upon the students.

It was students who have spurred much of the action on campus regarding these issues. It was students who reported the hateful messages; it was the students who posted messages of solidarity; it was students who urged for open forums and administrative responses, long before the administration even commented publicly. It was us as a student newspaper who broke these stories to the campus hours before the president’s response.

As the campus newspaper, we urge you to not be silent, to speak out and continue to report and stand against these awful things that are happening around us.

Do not let situations like this get thrown under the table and ignored. Do not let the administration control the narrative and be the primary ones to tell your story.

The Leader is your platform to use. This is a student newspaper for a reason, and we depend on you to share your stories, whether it is expressing your feelings through a letter to the editor, sending us news tips, or speaking with our reporters—so real change could be made on this campus.

It is my promise to you that we at The Leader will be here to listen and share those stories and allow your voice to be heard.

Sincerely,
Syeda Sameeha
Editor-in-Chief of your campus newspaper, The Leader