“The Weather Vane is published weekly by undergraduate students of EMU. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the university or its affiliates.”
Something that is essential and unique about The Weather Vane is that we are not censored by EMU’s administration. Past student journalists fought for this agency. The College Media Association’s code of ethics actually requires college media advisers to keep student papers free of prior review. We seek to be a voice for the students, and we are proud to do so.
While the above quoted statement from our masthead holds true, it is also important to recognize that we, as editors, do make the final call on what opinions are published. We have received negative feedback from the wider community regarding a recent opinion piece written by one of our staff members that likened President Trump to Hitler. Maybe more discussion should have gone into our decision to include that specific line of text—but that is on us as editors, and only us. It was never the intent to alienate members of the EMU community.
In the end, however, it was truly an opinion and not a call to action, nor meant to persuade. It was a statement of what a student believes, stemming from the experiences of being Black in the United States. This editorial is a reminder that we will publish politically-charged opinion pieces from all sides. We welcome diverse opinions. We welcome letters to the editor from students who feel that their voices are not being heard, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum. However, we will not publish anything that endangers or harasses historically marginalized groups, and white people do not fall under that category. Policies have not been written to exclude white people based on their skin color. White people are not disproportionately killed by the police because of their skin color.
In our organization’s constitution, we recently clarified that “The Weather Vane has an obligation to minimize harm, especially harm aimed at cross-sections of our community that have been historically marginalized.” We have an obligation to stand up for our students of color. We, as a publication, acknowledge that white people will never experience racism, and we will not run opinions intent on silencing the anger and sadness of our Black peers. And if we err, we want it to be on the side of making space for these voices. We live in an undeniably contentious time, and we will protect and defend our students of color, especially when their lives are at stake.
The Weather Vane always accepts Letters to the Editor regarding any concerns our readers may have, as well as Opinion articles contributed by any member of our student body. Please direct this communication to wvane@emu.edu.
