Editorial: Open debate must always remain respectful and constructive
2 min read
By THE BLUE & GRAY PRESS EDITORIAL BOARD
At The Blue & Gray Press, we love to see the university community engage in the discussion of vital issues on our campus. We also love seeing these important conversations take place on our website in response to our articles. Whether positive or negative, constructive criticism is a large aspect of journalism that all journalists understand and come to appreciate. In addition, this editorial board enjoys getting letters to the editor and op-eds about issues the student body and university community find important. The discussions that take place in the comments can be constructive, informative and sometimes eye-opening. While this is true, we would also like to remind everyone that the University’s Statement of Community Values is something that applies on our website, whether anonymous or not.
According to the statement, “We hold among our foremost common values: the importance of personal integrity as reflected in adherence to the Honor Code, the right of every individual to be treated with dignity and respect at all times, the appreciation of and respect for diversity in our community and adherence to the University’s Principles on Diversity and Inclusion and the University’s Statement of Non-Discrimination, and the freedom of intellectual inquiry in the pursuit of truth. We accept responsibility to help create the environment we strive to achieve. We will live up to these values and work to support our collective and individual successes. As members of the University community, we will not condone behavior that compromises or threatens these values.”
This statement is something that every student at this university is well aware of, as it is taught to us during our first week at UMW. Given this, The Blue & Gray Press holds our university community to the same standards online. While anonymity is inevitable in some instances, this editorial board will not tolerate threats, harassment or personal attacks of any kind to anyone. Anonymity will never stand as a justification for vicious attacks or offensive comments. If a comment is reported as offensive or dangerous, this editorial board will remove the post and act accordingly. If anyone, as a reader of The Blue & Gray Press, feels threatened, please feel free to contact us with your concerns.
We value the freedom of speech and expression, and as journalists, we understand its importance in society, but there are clear lines that will not be tolerated online. Despite our differences, our university is a community that values open discussion when conducted in a constructive, informative and respectful manner.
The Blue & Gray Press is proud to serve as a platform for students, faculty and community members to air grievances, voice concerns and share opinions. We want to continue to offer a space where students can express and share their views.
We encourage the submission of letters and op-eds. If you want to share your views, reach out to us with your submissions by Sunday evenings at 9 p.m.
I feel threatened by FUC; does that mean that you can remove them from campus?
I think it’s absurd that you are telling the student body they are not allowed to make accusations or attack someone, when the op-ed posted by Paige does exactly that. I see some double standards here, and they make me thankful that I’ll be graduating in May.
I lost all respect for The Blue & Gray Press after the “Bella’s fall show falls short” article was posted. In that article, it was allowed for a specific group of Mary Washington students to be attacked due to the author’s irrelevant, subjective opinion.
Now, you keep allowing FUC to post articles claiming to be the ones being victimized, when they are the ones doing the attacking. As a woman, and a feminist, I do not support FUC. I’ve heard a lot of fellow classmates say the same thing, so maybe you should stop and think about why they are getting the reactions they are getting.
Such hypocrisy. Maybe once you stop allowing hateful, ignorant articles which attack other students to be posted, then you will get the same respect from readers.
This is the biggest load of hypocritical bull I have ever read. Thank you for a good laugh!
It has become increasingly clear that Professor McCarthy was really the only driving force keeping the Bullet, and now The Blue & Gray Press, with its head above water. He would never have allowed for the publication of articles by groups attacking other groups– it is providing a pedestal to certain people but not others. He would be nothing but embarrassed to see the drivel that the B&G has become infamous for.
Read this before you comment. Seriously.
I put my name next to everything I write. You should too. If you make a claim of fact, give examples. If you have an opinion, say it’s your opinion. Claim it. Don’t hide behind an anonymous label.
Paige, Kelli, and the B&G Editorial Board at least have the courage to sign what they write and claim it as their own. So do I. The comments above mine? Not in the least. Anonymity is the tool of a bully, someone willing to pull others down behind a cloak of invisibility, knowing that no one will be able to trace their words back to their source. For you to then claim that the authors of these editorials are aggressors is absurd in the extreme. You want to disagree with them? Do it. But sign your name next to it. You’re not going to get hurt. You don’t need to look over your shoulder. I sure don’t. If you don’t put your name next to your words, it’s not because you’re afraid of being harmed. It’s because you know, even if you’re unwilling to admit it, that you would never be able to claim what you write and stand buy it if you were confronted with your own words in real life. If you can’t sign what you write, seriously consider whether you should be writing it at all.
If you want the debate to be open and constructive why do you not post the op-ed written in response to the article written by the FUC?
Get off of your high horse. Most people probably do not want their name attached to any of this, and our name does not have to be next to our comments in order to have our voices heard. Being anonymous doesn’t make any of our points any less valid. Ask me about it in person and I will tell you exactly what I wrote anonymously to your face.
And they have the courage put their names next to it? Perhaps it would be a better idea for them to be anonymous with their posts, instead of being the poster children for everything that feminism should not be, and all that gives feminists a bad name. At least they are “courageous” for not having to be anonymous to bully others though, right?
So if I name myself FUC and I stand for “women’s rights” (yet it appears most women don’t agree with me) I can just make blanket statements about groups that have been convicted and basically accused of nothing as a group. I will remain anonymous because the above is obviously endorsed by someone. This why the Blue and Gray Press is not news – it is personal views on how people see things, regardless of facts.
I will now state this and stand by it: the Blue and Gray Press is absolute politically correct pig slop. FUC is a bullying group made up of bullies and if you don’t like it start to change your ways. I did not care about this group at the start f this debate – now I absolutely despise all of you.
If you feel threatened you should not. Everyone else is working in the real world and helping each other – just stay down in your little hobbit hole spewing lies. No one else cares.
Hey Girard remember that time that Bullet editors posted online under the name of an active professor here at UMW? Yeah, good times. Carry on with your moral sermonizing.
*Feminist Hitlers slow-clapping in the background*
“UMW is so feminist-unfriendly but don’t worry we will use our newspaper to censor opposition”.
#femaleprivilege
I can sum up all the butthurt comments in this thread with two words: truth hurts.
Girard, I want to find a job by May. Your aspirations may be different.