At The Miscellany News, we look to create a space where students feel comfortable speaking up about the issues most important to them and to the rest of the student body. Serving as one of the oldest student organizations at Vassar College—the College’s newspaper of record since 1866 and weekly in print since 1914—The Miscellany News has been the center of student journalism at Vassar. Recently, the paper has provided a space for students, faculty and administration to engage in critical discourse on the ongoing pay equity lawsuit against the College; highlighted exhibitions of student art; reported on student concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic; and myriad other topics. We strive to always expand this newspaper’s rich history of community expression. Student speech should be protected at all costs. However, personal attacks on students, hate speech in any form, or libelous and misleading statements restrict proper dialogue and fail to adhere to the ethics of both The Miscellany News and professional journalism.
In recent weeks, The Miscellany News has received a number of overtly inflammatory attacks on students. As such, we have revised our Letter to the Editor policy and our comment policy to better address such attacks. In concurrence with our mission to produce high-quality student journalism and defend the student body’s freedom of speech, our publication is within our right to restrict hateful language that targets students’ right to expression. Every perspective is welcome at The Miscellany—however, when language is used to target, restrict, harm or silence individuals or groups, such speech is neither protected nor welcomed. We encourage community members to engage in public discourse via The Miscellany News, so long as such debate remains respectful to the vast plurality of perspectives and beliefs that a diverse student body promotes.
We are disheartened to see collegiate papers attacked for publishing student voices. Students themselves have also been attacked for sharing their views, as detailed by ABC News’ article “As debate rages on campus, Harvard’s Palestinian and Jewish students paralyzed by fear.”
These attacks discourage future students from coming forward and using The Miscellany and other student-run newspapers as platforms for critical discourse. Any attempt to debase student voices will only lead to the development of a campus culture of shame, silence and ignorance. To threaten or intimidate those who speak up, especially in a journalistic capacity, is unacceptable, and The Miscellany News will always strive to remain a space in which students are able to exercise their freedom of speech.
Students who are directly impacted by on-campus or global issues should be encouraged to write to express their feelings and opinions, especially as it relates to their respective institutions. Here at Vassar, it is no different. There is no newspaper without the students. We are committed to providing a safe space for students of all backgrounds and beliefs to voice their thoughts on the issues that matter most to them. Student newspapers create discourse independent of existing social media or television news structures, providing a platform for voices not traditionally represented. We aim to always maintain a space for the publication of student voices. The protection of student journalism is the purpose of this newspaper—now and always.
We thank all of our readers and contributors for their support and constructive criticism that has improved this paper each year since its conception.
Signed,
The Miscellany News Editorial Board
Kudos to the Editorial team
You have rightly pointed out to the bias and financial muscle that is overpowering enquiry and the pursuit of knowledge.
Keep up the good work and fend off the merchants who will try to compel you into intellectual subservience. You owe them nothing!!
Kudos to you
Trent Galvan
Keep up the good work on free speech and inquiry to build your own opinions. You will face a significant uphill battle – fair warning! The war mongers and money bags will try stifle your openness to learning by financial threats and blacklists.
As an example; Billionaire hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman and several other business leaders are demanding Harvard University release the names of students whose organizations signed on to a letter blaming solely Israel for the deadly attacks by Hamas. These CEOs want the students blacklisted.
However think about it; Don’t these CEOs have anything better to do than blacklist student organizations and newspapers?
Is this how previous generations of students have learned about how democracy works and to build a independent opinion that I does now cower to financial or political pressures? Would a future Daniel Ellsberg ever rise up from Vassar with such threats to one’s future career?
Your board and thinking about inquiry and opinions is spot on; keep up the good work. We would not have the Pentagon Papers without folks like you who can keep their collective conscience intact with a sense of purpose while wading through the fog of war.
Bob Jose