Dear Readers,
We at The Rotunda strive to report on important topics that directly influence the student body. In the Wednesday, Jan. 29 issue of The Rotunda, topics covered included the understaffing in the Longwood University’s Counseling Center, contrasting views on university recognition for organizations, changes in the Office of University Advancement and the planned re-opening of French Hall following renovations. We also printed the second sex column in a new series bycolumnist Candy Kane.
The article, “Did You Know? Having Sex while on your Period can End it Sooner,” received feedback primarily on our Facebook page on Friday, Jan. 31, two days after publication. Many readers felt the subject matter was inappropriate and that the article should not have been published. Others supported the topic but were disappointed in the article’s casual tone.There were also readers who supported The Rotunda’s freedom of speech and publication of the article.
We firmly believe that a newspaper can feature both enterprising news and a sex column. News is an important part of our publication, but we include arts and entertainment, sports and opinions each week in order to represent different sections of student life. We recognize that faculty, alumni and others in the community read our newspaper, as the student newspaper, our primary audience is the students. The majority of our content is meant to reflect that.
We would like to address the primary concerns our readers expressed. We understand the article has offended many of our valued readers. This was in no way our intention. We strive to cover a variety of topics and wanted to approach this particular topic because it affects the student body. While some believed we published the article for shock value or to evoke an emotional response, this was not the case. As the campus newspaper, we wanted to publish material that allows students to feel more comfortable about discussing sex openly.
The published piece was an opinion piece, but we do recognize that giving advice that readers could view as medical without medical sources to support the statements, including a paragraph with advice on contraception, was ill-advised. The article, which we published in our Features section, included the disclaimer, “This editorial is an opinion stated by the author and does not represent the views of The Rotunda or Longwood University.” To avoid any further confusion, future sex columns will be placed in the Opinion section.
If our readers believe that a sex column is or is not the right fit for The Rotunda after reading this statement, feedback is welcome. In the coming weeks, we will continue to ask students for their opinions.
As always, we strive to be the voice of the student body. If our readers believe we are not succeeding in this responsibility, we challenge our readers to get involved more directly. We offer opportunities including writing, editing, photography, print and website design, broadcasting, business and event planning. We hold our weekly meetings, which are open to all majors and all students, on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. in Chichester G12. Our readers may also submit a letter to the editor at any time to rotundaeditor@gmail.com or mail a written letter to:
The Rotunda
201 High Street.
P.O. Box 2901
Farmville, VA 23909.
We would like to thank our readers for their feedback. The opinions of our community are crucial in our decision-making process.
Sincerely,
The Rotunda Editorial Board
