Column: It has been a pleasure to serve you, Pacers
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.”
That is a quote I have chosen to live by and it has served me well, especially in my time as editor-in-chief of Pacer Times.
Some of the most controversial decisions I have made as EIC have been driven by a desire to do what is right, both for the student body and for moral reasons.
I have faced a great deal of difficult choices since I took over the paper in Spring 2018, and even though many of them have resulted in personal hardship for myself, I stand by almost all of them.
Many of those choices have revolved around reporting things that the administration at USC Aiken would rather handle behind closed doors. I have received a lot of criticism for that and my response is always the same: “Pacer Times is ‘for the students, by the students.’”
A student newspaper should serve students, not pander to the wishes of the very people we are supposed to hold accountable.
When I was faced with difficult executive decisions, I considered just two things. Is the information factual? How would reporting this information impact the student body and how could not reporting it impact them?
When we reported that black Greek life organizations felt ignored by the Student Affairs office, I asked myself those questions.
When we reported that USCA students had shared racist and sexist memes in a GroupMe chat sent to most of the student body, I asked myself those questions.
When we reported that students felt that the parking situation on campus was negatively impacting their education, I considered those questions.
When we reported that a USCA employee said a racist slur with a horrible, violent history, I asked not only myself those questions, but also a handful of other journalists and several of my most trustworthy advisers.
I do not think that USCA is a bad college to attend. I am actually quite fond of the campus and many of the people who belong to its community.
However, I do think it could be better if the university’s leaders would stop worrying about negative PR and think more about the students it serves.
I would challenge our administration to stop repeating that these actions do not represent USCA and instead start asking minority students what they can do to help foster a safer, healthier environment for them. Responding defensively about the institution does nothing to help the students you serve.
I am not an enemy of the university’s administration and neither is the newspaper. We want nothing more than to see USCA thrive as a diverse campus.
In a few weeks, I’ll be finished with my undergraduate degree and Noelle Kriegel will take over as editor-in-chief. I cannot predict the future, but I can promise you that she will be just as invested in reporting the truth as I have been.
John C. Maxwell said, “Image is what people think we are; integrity is what we really are.”
If I go down in USCA history as Pacer Times’ most notorious EIC, at least I can honestly say that I always tried to do the right thing for the students and that justice was on the forefront of my decision-making.
