Christian music appropriate at MLK celebration
Dear Editor:
I also attended the MLK celebration and noticed the strong Christian slant to the gospel performance in question. I must disclaim that I am a white Christian; however, I mean no offense and hopefully am not perceived as just jumping on an anti-secular bandwagon. While it certainly did not meet political-correctness guidelines, I feel that it was justified in the context. Dr. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister in addition to being an activist. The whole night, in addition to being about civil rights, was a celebration of his life and culture. The Visions Gospel Choir sings gospel music. This is almost certainly similar to the type of celebratory music that may have accompanied services led by MLK. Strictly speaking, the singing of the “Black National Anthem” was also counter to inclusiveness; however, I feel that it was perfectly suited to the night since it can be taken as an important part of Dr. King’s culture. As a (hypothetical) analogy, if Ariel Sharon passed away there would be a well-deserved memorial service, no doubt. What if a student group was selected to perform songs in Hebrew or works otherwise tied to Sharon’s culture? It would fit, and I believe it would not be counter to inclusiveness.
Pehr Hovey
Class of 2008
Student Life is a racist publication
Dear Editor:
Kanye West started a huge controversy when he said, “George Bush doesn’t like black people.” Unfortunately, the same seems to be true for Student Life. I am shocked and appalled by the repeated blatant disrespect for African Americans shown by Student Life newspaper. The quality of this publication must be called into question when the front page of the paper contains THREE separate stories about drug abuse on campus, but the Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration ceremony gets nothing but a picture. What does that say about the values of this paper and this university? Clearly, nothing positive. And this is not the first time that StudLife has insulted the black race. In the Spring 2005 issue directly following the production of Black Anthology, the African-American cultural show on campus, Black Anthology itself got a picture that had nothing to do with the play itself and a caption that conveyed no relevant information whatsoever to the reader. To add insult to injury, this storyless picture was placed right underneath a huge picture of an ex-student who committed a heinous crime. Not surprisingly, this man was of African descent. When the Negroes commit morally reprehensible deeds like murdering people or mugging students, they magically make front-page news. But when they do something good, like attempting to put on a cultural show or give honor to a man who changed all of our lives for the better, we get a picture – and we’re lucky to have that. All this is interesting in light of the long speech Chancellor Wrighton gave about how this university is attempting to be progressive and antiracist in its practices. Clearly, StudLife hasn’t gotten that message yet. Student Life is a RACIST PUBLICATION that speaks ill of the values of this community and this university. And if StudLife is as morally bankrupt as it has shown itself to be, I won’t be surprised if this letter is not even printed.
Step it up, StudLife.
Jessica McLean
Class of 2008
The editor responds
Dear Readers:
In light of the previous letter, I’d like to take a moment to clarify our News policy.
First of all, when deciding what to cover, our chief concern is that stories are both timely and newsworthy. This year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, while certainly an admirable production, and one which the University community clearly put a great deal of effort into organizing, is an annual event. More specifically, it is an event that has taken place on campus every year for nearly two decades.
Such recurring events, regardless of whether they are cultural events or general University functions, do not normally merit News coverage. We have no policy that mandates covering all “major cultural events” on campus, nor will we ever adopt such a policy.
As a news organization with limited personnel and resources, we have to prioritize our coverage – and that means, again, covering issues that are timely and newsworthy. The University’s decision to terminate SAE’s housing contract is newsworthy. Alcohol-related incidents on campus nearly tripling over the past semester is newsworthy. The University’s defense of its social norming program in the face of criticism is newsworthy. A celebration that has taken place every year for the past two decades is certainly not as newsworthy as the above stories.
I must say that personally, I’m surprised that a student who espouses respectful, progressive dialogue between groups and individuals on campus would resort to labeling and name-calling as a means of making her voice heard. While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, Ms. McLean, regardless of its basis in fact, I think you undermine yourself by making unfounded claims about the intent behind our coverage.
In any case, as far as the questions raised about Black Anthology and our coverage of former University football player Bobby Collins’ sentencing are concerned, those were addressed in great detail approximately one year ago by then-editor in chief Jonathan Greenberger. I will not go into all of that here; Greenberger’s explanation, along with a further clarification of our News policies, can easily be found on our Web site, www.studlife.com, in the Feb. 9, 2005 Letters to the Editor section.
Thank you for reading, and keep those letters coming.
Margaret Bauer
Editor in Chief
Student Life