Statement by Amy Herdy, Campus Press Manager

First let me say, I am so sorry for the pain this has caused. And so are the students.

I am the adviser for the Campus Press. I don't know if it would help, but I do believe it was not the intentions of the author of that opinion piece to hurt anyone. He was attempting to write satire, and has since said in a media interview that it was his intention to raise awareness of racial stereotypes, and that he feels badly for hurting anyone.

Nor did the editor who made the decision to run the piece do so in an attempt to be salacious or racist or spiteful. She truly thought that others would see it as she did--as an observation of the racial divides on the CU campus. She hoped it would spark a discussion that would be productive, not destructive.

As adviser, I cannot dictate content--it is a student-run news organization. But I can dictate process--and ours will change. This is my second semester as adviser for Campus Press, and I realize I have a long road ahead of me to get it where it needs to be.

You have probably read about the measures we are putting in place to help us get started. Among them, we are going to have diversity training, as well as form a student diversity advisory board to work with the student editors and reporters on issues concerning race and sensitivity. We are also developing standards for our opinions, and have suspended any further pieces until those standards are put into place.

Through of all of this, there is a sad truth that I have realized, that I am embarrassed to say I did not understand the magnitude of before: There is indeed a racial divide on the CU campus, and it is deep, and historic, and ongoing. Students of color feel wounded and excluded, and many do not feel safe.

As someone of relative newness to the CU community, I did not fully realize that until members of our staff sat down with some of those students last week. The depth of their pain, and the rawness of it, was mortifying to me.

I came back and told the students, If the Campus Press is supposed to be the voice of the CU community, we are failing--and not simply this past week.

We need to devote ourselves to telling the stories and perspectives of these students who so clearly feel ostracized on this campus. For the next several weeks and months, we need to explore these issues of race and division--taking ownership for our role in it, as well as what can be done to begin to heal it.
 
Sincerely,

Amy Herdy