The Hillsdale Collegian Opinions page serves as a public forum. We, the Collegian editorial staff, hope to capture the “geist” of campus — and sometimes the “geist” is feisty. The opinion pieces we print are not endorsed by us. And it is up to you, our readers, to make of them what you will and respond if you feel so moved.
It is the unique privilege of the Opinions page to print things that its staff, perhaps, does not agree with — so, too, to print things with which the student body disagrees. Free discourse cannot occur in an environment where argumentation is regulated. Censoring campus is decidedly illiberal.
“Public discourse” is not the practice of heaving banal, broadly-accepted theses into the public sphere and hoping that heads will nod in affirmation. Discourse is made vital by the real and lively exchange of authors’ convictions and reasoning. The hope is not that heads will nod, but that heads will roll.
We have faith in our authors’ ability to write persuasively. We trust they can counteract, if necessary, arguments made against them. And this is precisely the place to argue. Not with epithets or ad hominem attacks, but with scrupulous, spirited reasoning and rhetoric.
But this is a newspaper. And it’s not only a newspaper — it’s the editorial page of a newspaper. Just as we withhold endorsement, we refuse to censor without good cause. Writing for print should be undertaken with the understanding that your arguments will be taken out of your hands and into the public sphere. People are deeply motivated by belief. Public challenges to these beliefs can incite strong reaction.
As Hillsdale students, we will be confronted upon graduation with a culture that is hostile to much that we hold dear. We cannot expect to be met with consensus or even good manners.
It is not only our task to pursue truth and cultivate beauty, but to defend it and make evident to others — with rhetoric, prose, or example — the good found therein.
What good is a liberal education if you can’t communicate? Write for the Opinions page. Get your hands dirty. Wrangle with opposing beliefs. Jot down your thoughts. We look forward to putting them in print.