By Jewell Porter ’16, Elaine Cashy ’16 and Laura Carr ’17
Editors-in-Chief and Managing Editor
We’re finally done. After working on about 110 issues of The Denisonian collectively, some together and some without each other, we’re done. Just like that. We’ll still be around, although one of us will be abroad next semester and the other two will be gone for good at semester’s end.
But we refuse to feel emotional about this… or at least just yet. Talk to the seniors at the end of the semester if you want to see the waterworks. But for now, we would like this to be about what we’ve been doing all semester: pointing out some things that we think should be improved because we believe that this University is great, and we want it to continue in this trajectory.
One of the biggest issues that we see on this campus is the absence of discourse between different groups of students. We’re all too comfortable meeting in our distinct groups where we are unchallenged in our beliefs and our assumptions.
This leads to remaining uninformed and one-sided in the ways that we approach several issues in several contexts. For example, this has been an issue in DCGA where students complain about things like the budget process but choose not to go to the open meetings where discussions are being held about the very things that enraged students last semester.
How can we expect favorable changes from our student government if we opt out of the very necessary meetings and conversations where those potential changes are being discussed?
Similarly, fear of leaving one’s comfort zone alone should not deter us from joining organizations that peak our interests. We are very excited about the 2016 staff because of this; it reflects a diverse range of Denisonians who might not have interacted if they had not chosen to pursue their interests and step outside of their comfort zones. When we finish our tenure at The Denisonian, we each plan on pursuing new extracurricular activities, as well.
Another issue that we face is that people talk at people, but once they receive the opportunity to discuss the issues that they feel passionate about, they refuse to continue the discussion. As a college, especially a liberal arts college, we should be open to starting and engaging in uncomfortable discussions. During our time on staff, we have had the opportunity to learn about some of the issues that people feel most passionate about, and as a result, we have learned that changes almost always come from discussion.
Earlier this semester, we published an editorial about the importance of the unpopular opinion. The unpopular opinion is not something that we should fear; instead, it’s something that we should embrace.
We’re lucky to attend a University where we are immersed in the presence of people with so many opinions and perspectives. It’s important that we take advantage of this while we’re here because it mirrors the greater society. We hope that students will take advantage of this opportunity.