While perusing last week’s issue of The Campus, I came across ABC’s ad for the Tuesday discussion.
I looked for the main article and found nothing, not even a blurb in a cramped Features corner announcing the event.
Then racism’s stench floated up the Alumni grapevine and I got a text explaining that two students thought it would be a good idea to use blackface on Halloween. No one dissuaded them.
I went to Allegheny.edu. Not a word. I went to AlleghenyCampus.com. The same. How unsurprising.
Every time something racist occurs at Allegheny the incident is buried in Bentley’s filing cabinets.
Appearances? Preserved! Internal turmoil? Smoldering. Complicit in all of this? The Campus.
I know that the discussion is covered in this issue. What disturbs me is the paper’s silence up until now. There is a website, so is it necessary to wait for the print edition to cover news?
If the newspaper staff is too busy, aren’t students aware The Campus is application-free and that they can send in an e-mail or attend a meeting to pitch story ideas?
The administration has remained silent on this incident as well.
The Campus is Allegheny College’s official newspaper. Did those in charge not return calls?
Were they too busy deciding where to put the newest ceramic alligator to make a statement? I can think of several, President Mullen, if you’re at a loss. Here you go: “We take student concerns seriously and are looking into the incident.” (I thought you’d like that one—it’s non-committal.)
Diversity is emphasized in Allegheny’s advertising. Yet of what use is diversity without respect?
Racism is a problem this college struggles with.
By not addressing the issue until next week or next year, you are actively perpetuating the problem.
Mainstream media suppresses as much as it reports.
That doesn’t mean The Campus should.