This year, The Herald turns 125. On this anniversary and with the beginning of a new editorial board, we strive to improve the paper, reflect on its past and lay the foundation for a better future.
Since 1891, The Herald has published a daily paper intended to inform the Brown community and hold members of the community accountable for their actions. But The Herald also serves another purpose: It aims to reflect the current state of the Brown community as it operates day to day. In another 125 years, when people want to know what it was like at Brown — to be a student, a staff member, a professor, an administrator — one of the first places they will look is The Herald.
This is a heavy responsibility, and the leadership and staff of The Herald do not take it on lightly. We acknowledge that this power can lead to grave consequences. Given that we live in a world strapped with inequality — we sit on a campus paid for by the slave trade on Narragansett and Wampanoag land — implicit biases inevitably play a role in our publication. At times, unequivocal prejudices have tarnished the pages of our paper. But we strive to be objective in our reporting by resisting those biases. We strive to be representative of our community in the ideas we propagate through our section. We do not always live up to this goal. And while we cannot change our past, we are reflecting on our errors and will do better in the future.
Given that The Herald is a reflection of the entire Brown community, every member of the community is a stakeholder in The Herald; all members of the Brown community have a right to a platform for their voices and ideas. The Herald remains the best venue for communicating thoughts and suggestions to administrators, students and alums every day. We invite all members of the community to use The Herald as it is intended: to hold others in the community — including The Herald — accountable for their actions. Write us letters; submit op-eds; email us; join The Herald, if you’re so inclined. This editorial is an open hand extended to our readers as an appeal to engage. We are not shy, and we are not faint of heart. We want to hear it all because The Herald should be a platform for us all.
We believe that our values and standards as an organization are exemplary. We have not always lived up to these values and standards, and for that we can only apologize and improve. But our values and our standards remain steadfast even though our adherence to them has faltered. We ask not that you trust us, but that you let us show you that we take the responsibility of representing our community seriously and will shoulder the work to do so — every day.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Emma Axelrod ’18 and Emma Jerzyk ’17, and its members, Eben Blake’ 17, Aranshi Kumar ’17 and Leeron Lempel ’19. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
