Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Wagner (right) and Executive Editor Simon Stewart (left)
BY
Editor-in-Chief
AND
Executive Editor
Dear Readers,
In our office sits an old photograph of an early Review staff: a collection of posed white men dressed in suits. About 20 years before this photograph was taken, The Review was founded — only 17 years after slavery abolished in the U.S.
For decades, The Review primarily concerned itself with matters relating to the mostly white, able-bodied and upper-class men who attended the university.
This is our history, and it is one that has left out many perspectives. There are many of us who take pride in The Review, and dealing with that controversial past can be uncomfortable. However, we believe in the importance of putting ourselves in these situations to create positive change.
140 years later, as the university has grown larger and more diverse, our coverage has too. Yet, one can not say that the university is diverse — because it isn’t. Similarly one cannot say that The Review staff is diverse — because, as a group of mostly white, able-bodied students, we aren’t. That is something that we want to change, and we want this issue to further our efforts to do so.
In the fall we talked about justice and the ways in which our community demanded it. With this issue, we expanded our coverage by surveying our community and identifying the ways in which minority groups are included and excluded.
We hope this is the starting point of The Review’s promise to be even more diverse, and to further highlight experiences that are often ignored. To this effect, we have expanded The Review’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Board, who retrained our staff before this issue. Additionally, we have updated our policies on reporting and editing to make sure stories are well-rounded in sourcing and subject matter.
Looking back on our tenure as this paper’s leaders, we wished we had been more connected with all aspects of our university community. We did our best after COVID-19 to reestablish a relationship with our readers, but as many of us can attest, things just aren’t the same as they were before. We are nothing without you, our readers, which is why we are opening ourselves up to feedback and changes so as to better reflect the community we serve.
Because this is our last print issue for the year, we also thought we would take a moment to say thank you for allowing us the opportunity to grow and learn from you.
Best wishes,
Kelsey and Simon
