This week, the Editorial Board wants to emphasize the importance of discussion and debate.
Our worry is that the emotions surrounding sensitive issues like those reported on our pages—ranging from discomfort felt by LGBTQ students to the recent forum on blackface—will overwhelm understanding.
We don’t want you to stifle your emotions. You have every right to feel strongly about injustice. The passion this campus feels for the protection of and equality for all members of the community is what makes the college what it is.
It’s part of what we mean when we band together and say, “We are Allegheny.”
Don’t let discussions of differences overshadow that fact. The letters to the editor in this issue and many of the voices at the forum on Tuesday make a valuable point. It’s time to start talking. It’s time to acknowledge our differences and acknowledge the divides that still exist, even at a small liberal arts school like this.
But we must not let those divides define us.
The Campus would like you to think before you act and speak. But we urge you to speak. Speak in any way you can, in any way you feel comfortable. Attend the Campus Climate Listening Sessions in the upcoming weeks. Stop by the Diversity Affairs or Residence Life offices to air your grievances. Share a beer with a friend and let them know how you feel.
Just start the dialogue. We can’t heal whatever rifts still exist if we remain reluctant to acknowledge them.
And there are always these pages. We want to hear what you have to say and we want to offer you a forum to share it with the campus. Whether you’re outspoken and want a wider audience or you feel you represent yourself best through the written word, this is your campus and this is your Campus newspaper. Please use the opinion pages and the information reported throughout as such.
We are more than the sum of our parts. We are not yet colorblind. We are not yet entirely accepting of all beliefs, values and sexual orientations. But the best way towards progress is respectful discussion.
Let these discussions bring us together, not tear us apart.