In the planning stages for this semester, Allie and I spent time examining the ways in which The Weather Vane can both serve the campus community more fully and provide fresh perspectives in new ways. We realized that the opinion column often featured students’ political opinions, but that it was the opinions of several writers in heavy rotation. We wondered if it would be possible to create a space within The Weather Vane’s context that could include more voices from a broader range of perspectives.
Last semester, the presidents of the Young Democrats and Young Conservative Voices clubs met together to lead a trivia night. The discourse was positive and friendly, offering the two presidents spaces to share a little bit more about each of their clubs within the context of political trivia. However, after that night, it was clear to us that there aren’t a lot of spaces where students often publicly share, let alone debate, their ideas and opinions about politics on EMU’s campus.
As we continued to think about more theoretical goals of the paper as detailed in Allie’s editorial, we realized that a weekly political corner would be a clear space to implement a representation of differing opinions and experiences. We know that EMU is home to a wide variety of beliefs and ideas. If The Weather Vane truly seeks to reflect that depth and breadth of opinion on campus, then its opinion pieces should be equally as diverse. The Weather Vane, then, can become a space in which students are invited to safely share opinions and develop their own understandings of complex political events.
The goal of this space is to give students the platform to share informed opinions about current political news. Ideally, we will have articles ranging in perspective from more conservative to more liberal and everything in between. Each week, the paper could feature as many as two or three articles. Perhaps two people from differing political opinions could collaborate, writing their two different opinions on the same piece of news. We anticipate inviting both the Young Democrats and Young Conservative Voices clubs to write regularly, asking that they draw from their club members for written pieces.
While we hope to focus on featuring our two political clubs on campus, we invite political opinions from all students, regardless of political affiliation or age. If you have an opinion that you would like to share, please send us an article or a proposal for one. We look forward to hearing from you!
