What It Means to Publish Responsibly

In recent weeks, Amherst College was thrust into the national spotlight after the publication of a recent article commenting on the Amherst orientation tradition “Voices of the Class” — but students and even the college itself had little chance to respond. Although writing about campus issues and culture beyond the institution is far from problematic, this article was published two days after The Student’s final issue of the fall semester and just three days before finals period at the college. This timing left the Amherst community with a major controversy and no official public forum to reflect in.

To serve the community during national coverage of the aforementioned article, the Student made an unprecedented decision to publish a news article on Dec. 15, well past the final issue published on Dec. 10. Breaking with tradition is not something we take lightly, but our commitment to rigorous, accountable journalism demanded it. By extending our publication schedule, we ensured that the Amherst community had a record of this important moment and a chance to engage with the story. This unprecedented step highlights just how seriously we take our responsibility to inform and serve our community. 

The issue at hand is not the article’s subject matter or its factual accuracy — those are separate questions — but the circumstances of its publication and the way it foreclosed meaningful student discourse. A commitment to freedom of the press is inseparable from a commitment to freedom of expression and diversity of thought. A press is only truly free when it fosters the conditions for response, debate, and engagement across differing viewpoints. 

To publish a highly controversial article at a moment when others had no practical ability to respond in a campus-oriented manner is not an exercise of free press, but an abuse of it. Doing so transformed what should have been a dialogue — an exchange that invites response — into a gross misrepresentation of campus politics. When publication decisions knowingly risk harm to students while denying space for dialogue, they depart from journalism’s core purpose: Not merely to publish, but to inform responsibly, to invite scrutiny, and to strengthen the public sphere.

For these reasons, The Student seeks to reaffirm its commitments as a forum for free expression, meaningful discussion, and engaged disagreement. We understand student journalism not as the production of isolated interventions, but as the cultivation of an ongoing public conversation. Unlike a fast-moving news cycle, The Student carries record and memory: Context builds over weeks, semesters, and years, allowing claims to be judged not only for their immediacy, but for their lasting impact. In doing so, we aim to provide not just a platform for student voices, but a living body of discourse — one sustained by response, reflection, and participation.

The Student is written from within the community it covers, so our responsibilities as journalists are both intellectual and ethical. We are guided not just by professional standards but by the proximity to the lives and relationships in the stories we tell. We believe wholeheartedly in accurate reporting, sincere fact-checking, and rigorous editing. Each article we publish is the product of deliberate verification dedicated to journalistic integrity. These practices are not only ancillary to our mission; they are its foundation. In a small and interconnected community, precision matters, errors carry consequences, and trust must be continually earned. 

The Student also would like to be transparent about the conditions under which this paper is produced. Each issue is written, edited, and managed as independently from the college as possible, entirely by unpaid students, whose work takes place primarily behind the scenes. Like many of our readers who are students, we are constrained by the academic calendar — including the pressures of finals period — and by structural limits set by the college and its budgetary process, restricting how frequently we are able to publish. 

These realities shape how student journalism operates. Within them, we understand ourselves as vital facilitators of campus discourse. Our role on this campus is not to speak for every student or to settle disagreements by decree. It’s to make disagreement visible so it can be meaningfully engaged. When we say that The Student carries memory, we mean that our work is more than a simple recording of events or student opinions: The platform we create allows our community to reflect on itself in real time and sustains public conversation.

When avenues of public discourse are inaccessible, narratives about Amherst are created from isolated opinions without regard for reality, nuance, or the consequences of this representation. At best, these perspectives leave people vaguely aware of our existence; at worst, they could potentially harm our community members and turn misinformation into accepted fact.

The aim of this editorial is not to discourage the expression of opinion, nor is it to argue against engaging audiences beyond campus. Rather, we write to remind this community of writers and thinkers that the purpose of opinionated journalism is to spark conversation, to present multiple perspectives, and to allow readers to arrive at informed conclusions. Journalism loses its meaning when it fails to facilitate this process — and to render journalism hollow is an outcome The Student can never support.

If you are interested in joining the conversation — on this issue or any other — we invite members of the Amherst College community to reach out to the editors. You may contact the editors of the relevant section directly, or, if you are unsure whom to contact, email [email protected]. We remain committed to making The Student an accessible forum for participation, response, and dialogue.