Dear readers,

Last week, Student Life published a piece entitled “It’s OK that conservatives don’t feel welcome” in our Feb. 7 issue. The piece has garnered significant attention both within the Washington University community and elsewhere, including a letter to the editor from Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Lori White and multiple op-eds from the community published in today’s issue.

In response, I would like to clarify our status as an organization and our policies regarding publishing articles, both in our Forum section and elsewhere. Student Life, as an organization, has no political or ideological affiliations. We are also proudly editorially independent, receive no funds through Student Union or the student activities fee and allow no prior review of articles before publication by anyone outside of our organization.

We publish content in five sections, including Forum, our opinion section. As the name implies, we strive to make Forum a place for open, vibrant discussion of a variety of ideas and perspectives. Within the section, we publish an array of pieces, including op-eds, letters to the editor, pieces by staff writers and staff editorials. Of these, only staff editorials represent the views of the paper’s Editorial Board, which meets weekly to discuss campus issues. Articles by staff writers, like the piece in question, are written by members of Student Life’s staff, but do not necessarily represent the views of Student Life’s Editorial Board or the organization as a whole. Op-eds and letters to the editor are written by individuals or groups outside of Student Life, and do not represent the paper’s views.

While Student Life reserves the right to withhold publication of any piece for any reason, we believe it to be our editorial duty to publish as wide a variety of ideas as are submitted to us whenever possible. We are simply not in the habit of censoring the ideas of either op-ed contributors or staff writers. The article in question met our standards for publication, and we stand behind the decision to publish it.

I welcome any further questions, which can be directed to [email protected], and thank you for your understanding and continued readership.

Sincerely,
Sam Seekings, Editor-in-Chief

Check our this follow-up piece from the author of the article in question.