By Paul A. Anthony, Editor in Chief
We messed up.
In Friday’s editorial, the Editorial Board raised what we thought were valid concerns about the Office of Campus Life’s growth in relation to the university’s planned cuts. We had organizational charts from the past five years that we thought showed additional personnel in several departments, including Residence Life, Chapel and Judicial Affairs.
But we were wrong-on several counts.
When we wrote the editorial, we should have contacted Wayne Barnard, dean of Campus Life and assistant provost for student development, for confirmation of these gains. We did not. And because we didn’t, our information was incorrect.
In an e-mail, Barnard clarified that although Campus Life has been restructured several times, with several positions gaining new titles and responsibilities, the offices of Residence Life Education and Housing, Judicial Affairs and Student Organizations and Activities, as well as Chapel, have not gained positions in the last several years.
Likewise, the second point of our editorial-that the Medical Clinic and Counseling Center needed more resources-already has been addressed.
The Medical Clinic not only has the funds to hire a nurse to replace the one that resigned last semester, but also the funds to hire another nurse. Likewise, a full-time counselor was hired last summer.
Not calling the director of a division that is about to be targeted in an editorial is bad journalism. I have apologized to Barnard for this negligence and taken full responsibility for it.
I apologize to you, our readers, because you should expect the same accurate reporting from the opinion page that you expect from the front page. Even while delivering an opinion, the newspaper has an obligation to be correct and give both sides of an issue.
We did neither Friday.
Speaking for the Editorial Board, we are happy that steps already were being taken to help Health Services hire adequate staffing.
But we should have known about those steps before running Friday’s editorial.
We lay our credibility on the line every time we pick up the pen; sometimes we fail. But we correct our mistakes so that you may trust us in the future.
We now work to restore that trust.