We would be kidding ourselves if we said we had any idea of what was in store for us when last January we assumed the positions comprising the 122nd managing board of The Cavalier Daily. Plagiarism incidents, University Judiciary Committee charges and nearly being blocked from our offices by construction were not in the job description.
Indeed, we experienced many surprises during our term at the helm of the oldest daily newspaper in both Charlottesville and the University. What probably amazed us the most, though, was the indefatigable dedication of our staff and the intense loyalty of our readers, who stuck with us through good times and bad. Therefore, as we prepare to hand off the reins to the 123rd staff this weekend, we would like to offer our thanks and farewells to our colleagues and community members and briefly reflect upon our accomplishments from the past year.
Although our term was often unpredictable, we take pride in the fact that we were able to live up to at least some of the goals we set for ourselves upon taking office last year. In our opening editorial last January, for example, we wrote that the University’s “student population is more diverse than ever. We hope to expand our paper’s content to appeal to that audience.” We followed through on that commitment by publishing a three-part series on the University’s LGBTQ communities, continuing to run a biweekly opinion column by the Minority Rights Coalition and advocating through our editorials for a variety of initiatives which are of importance to the University’s minority communities.
Moreover, we maintained a level of transparency which we hope allowed readers to gain a better understanding of how the paper operates. Notably, we explained publicly our decision to use anonymous sources in an investigative report about a hazing incident at Zeta Psi fraternity. Furthermore, we were open with readers when last fall we discovered that plagiarized articles had appeared in our pages. Although this led to a showdown with the Honor Committee and UJC, we managed to keep readers apprised of the latest developments throughout that ordeal as well.
These achievements would not have been possible, however, without the support of our readers and staff members. Whether it was receiving a friendly postcard from a reader in South Korea or having a staffer sit next to us in class and offer a compliment about a story or editorial, these were the small moments which kept us going through sleepless nights, unpleasant meetings and the everyday crises which arise when publishing a daily newspaper.
Even more importantly, our readers and staffers made being on the managing board more than a job — it became a true learning experience. To be sure, the feedback we received from readers about content in the paper was not always positive, but it gratified us to know that those in the community care enough about The Cavalier Daily to correct us when we go astray. And the impromptu newsroom debates we had with staff members not only helped us fine-tune our editing and editorializing, they also contributed to our understanding of the world in ways which will far outlast our time at the paper.
Perhaps the most meaningful thing we learned while managing The Cavalier Daily, though, is how vital this institution is to the University and the Charlottesville community. An independent student voice, free of administrative influence, is perhaps the purest embodiment of the University’s ideal of student self-governance. It has been an honor to be a part of the paper’s mission, and we will carry with us the lessons learned from the experience throughout the rest of our lives.
Obviously it wouldn’t be the managing board without one final childish F you to the leadership of the University. Hopefully the next board won’t be as pathetic and confrontational, but all 20 of us readers won’t hold our breath for that one.
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Hot debate. What do you think?
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if you think the paper is so bad, why are you reading it? better yet, why are you commenting on it. you seem bitter.
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Thank you for leaving. Hopefully, the incoming managing board will bring this paper back to some semblance of fairness, accuracy, and honesty that the one you replaced had themselves at least made an decent effort at. The good news for you is that you have proven yourselves worthy propagandists to countless media organizations nationwide. But don’t expect life in general to reward you for ignoring what you wish not to be.
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It’s A decent effort, not AN decent effort. But that was a decent effort at bullying a group of hardworking, intelligent and dedicated college students. Oh wait – no it wasn’t.
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Once they get from under the tiny bubble that UVA has afforded them, lived some life, worked some jobs, paid some bills, experienced some crime, protected their children (rather then killed them), and buried some loved ones – most of them will look back and marvel how quickly and completely they became indoctrinated with such a narrow minded and narcissistic world view. Nobody grows up wanting to be a censor, a hater of religion, a denier of science, or someone who must continuously go into irrational denial of any issue or facts that may not favor a radical political agenda that was programmed into them by Ivy Tower academics. Nobody grows up wanting to cover up the cause of death of fellow students on behalf of their school administrators. Nobody grows up endlessly trying to defend a dead honor code, whose continuing silliness thankfully did not succeed in getting them thrown out of school.
When I was getting my first degree when I was young, the world was in grave danger of imminent destruction unless we had a unilateral nuclear freeze, elected a democrat to play nice with the Soviets and the Sandanistas, gave the wealth of the West to despots South of the equator, and – yes – a new ice age was quickly bearing down on us. We were told by out genius professors that Britain would be uninhabitable and world oil reserves would be gone by the year 2000, condoms and sex education would eradicate AIDS, and that Willy Brandt and West Germany needed to be friends with and finance the East German regime. Any deviation from any of these urgent necessities would result in global catastrophe, naturally.
Limousine liberal academics play on fear, and have a huge, very impressionable group of teenagers at their disposal every August. It’s very easy to get BULLIED into believing all manner of their nonsense. I did for a time also. I had an English professor who spent half of class time talking about Vietnam. I had a German professor who made us read the East German party rag newspaper (Neues Deutschland) and told us that everything therein was “the truth.” My department chairs invited people who had blown up shopping malls full of people – and defended doing so – into our student union.
It was/is never anything personal against anyone.
They too, will grow up – and and wise up.
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