I can still remember sitting in a tiny blue chair at a wooden desk in grammar school. The fifth grade curriculum at my Catholic school required us to prepare for the sacrament of Reconciliation. Regardless of how anyone feels about religion, I still maintain that I learned an important lesson that I’ve held onto for the last 12 years. Human beings are prone to mistakes, indiscretions, sins, misjudgments — whatever your word might be for it. The best way to repent for these shortcomings is to apologize and seek to make right what one has wronged.
Never has this been truer than now. In my life, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. We all have. Most of the time, we never intend to make these mistakes. In fact, we often have the best intentions. Fortunately for most people, their indiscretions are not out in the public eye. But in the job I have chosen, as editor in chief of a college newspaper, any mistakes I make in my editorial judgment are open for public consumption.
With this in mind, I think it is important that I am held accountable for what was ultimately my decision. The choice to run Alex Knepper’s column was one that was filled with good intentions. While I recognized that his tone was hyperbolic, I decided — based on our hands-off policy on editing columns — that it would create a dialogue. I truly believe in the value of debate and discussion, and these views clouded the possibility that this column may cause real harm to individuals who did not deserve it.
And though I still maintain that with the right tone, all relevant perspectives can create a constructive dialogue, we first need to figure out a more responsible means to do that.
This has been an emotionally draining week, but I cannot deny that this has been a remarkable learning experience. When I think about all the people who have approached me and told me that they support my decision, I feel unbelievable gratitude. Even for those who have told me that I made a horrible mistake — I am so grateful for the constructive criticism.
Your thoughts, letters and conversation have made us re-evaluate a flawed process. In a perfect world, we would have had this process figured out long before the column was published. I can’t make the promise that this kind of controversy will never happen again. However, I hope that the conversation will focus on the topic, not the editorial decisions of The Eagle.
So, in addition to our editorial board’s apology, I would like to do so personally. I sincerely apologize to those who have been hurt as a result of my inability to make Knepper’s message more clear and contextual. This was never my intention. I hope the campus community can discuss important issues in a manner that is constructive and productive in the future. Please, bear with us as we make the necessary changes. I know there are many people who will be angry with us for apologizing, but the point is that we need to repair our process. It is an issue of ethics and accountability, and as student journalists, these are the most important of principles.
Sincerely, Jen Calantone Editor in Chief
