It’s rare in our work as student journalists that events we report on garner the same amount of scrutiny and condemnation as the events of the past week at Queen’s. It’s even rarer that we stand back from engaging in difficult or controversial topics.
For years, it has been the role of The Queen’s Journal Editorial Board to discuss and comment on issues that affect our student body, from a student perspective.
The process by which the Editorial Board operates is structured with unanimity and fairness of opinion to every member of the editorial staff in mind. Therefore, topics for consideration are brought to each meeting, voted on and only the topics garnering the most votes are then editorialized on.
The vote of the Editorial Board this week decided that at this time The Journal would not offer comment in the form of an editorial on the party which occurred last week in the University District and subsequently sparked considerable controversy on campus and in the pages of national newspapers.
We want to make it clear to our readers that this decision was not made with the intention of ignoring the very real issues that these events have brought up — over the years we’ve spent as members of The Journal, we’ve both been witness to Queen’s lack of diversity and inclusivity — but rather in recognition of the role we play in circumstances like these as Queen’s student newspaper.
The event itself, as well as the media coverage and discussions on social media which followed it, reflected a deep polarization within the Queen’s community.
The subsequent actions and statements by the AMS, the ASUS Faculty Board, Principal Daniel Woolf and the University Senate evidenced a move towards long overdue action, however that action and its result, as of this moment, remain unclear.
Our role at this time is not to add yet another opinion into what has already been a divisive discussion on campus. Our role is to continue to cover the issue of race on campus from a wide range of perspectives, as we’ve strived to do for years, and provide clarity and understanding of the events as they continue to unfold.
Our News section will continue to report on the outcomes of the past two week’s events to the best of our ability. As a small team, we appreciate any information or assistance the community is willing to provide.
Any tips or information can be sent to journal_news@ams.queensu.ca.
We also encourage members of the Queen’s community to have their own voices heard in our paper by submitting a letter to the editor. This space operates as a service to the community for public dialogue, one that we will continue to operate over the holiday break so as to continue the conversation.
Any letters to the editor can be submitted to journal_letters@ams.queensu.ca.
Sincerely,
Jacob Rosen and Jane Willsie,
Editors in Chief
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
