After reading and discussing the article in last weeks edition of The Campus, titled “Day of Peace ridiculous” we, both a current student and a recent graduate, felt very uncomfortable that an article with such hateful rhetoric was placed with such prominence in our school’s paper, especially given the currently active dialogue on campus.

Because of recent incidents that have brought issues of homophobia and racism to the forefront of our collective consciousness on campus, both McHugh’s article and the decision by The Campus to print it and include such strong graphics send the message that the idea of tolerance is an active debate. If this is the case, is the “Statement of Community,” printed much smaller at the bottom of the same page part of that debate?

We perceived McHugh’s use of the vague term “hipster” to reference some sort of liberal-identified other in the school’s community, rather than directly addressing specific groups on campus with whom she disagrees with politically. It is too easy to make a connection to the larger general facebook event that McHugh attacks in her article and the actual student-sponsored event, March Against Hate, scheduled this week. We feel that it is the responsibility of The Campus to be aware of how their editorial content is reflective actual community events, since their publication is directly connected and responsive to student life and experience. Everything that goes into the paper is directly connected to actual events on campus, and McHugh’s article cannot be removed from that when published in the paper.
Therefore, The Campus cannot use the fact that McHugh did not name anything directly, such as the March On Hate, as a defense for printing the article as an example of freedom of speech.

Bitter, hate-filled diatribes have no place in The Campus, and it is a shame that the newspaper chose to publish this article – on the same page as an editorial about respect and a Statement of Community, no less. Students should be given the opportunity to express their views, but it is crossing the line when The Campus allows such blatant hate speech. McHugh’s article is not attempting any sort of open dialogue with the “hipsters” she so fervently dislikes, and The Campus needs to be aware the intrinsic connection between their content and the realities facing the Allegheny community.

By Marianne Broome ’10 and Sara Meyer ’11