To the Editors of the Scarlet,
We write to share our concerns regarding the Wall Street Journal op-ed written by a former staff member at Clark, and President Fithian’s April 16th email in response to that.
We are concerned about several inaccuracies and omissions in both of these communications, as these mischaracterize the nature of the event and the Clark students concerned. We are also concerned about the public discourse in response to these pieces, and ultimately, how this affects the safety of Clark students from doxing, discrimination, harassment and death threats, as well as their freedom of speech.
We, a group of several Clark community members, came together to write this letter to clarify a lot of these events. We invite people to read this and sign this letter to support our students. In light of assuring the safety of all signatories, we will not be releasing any names of signatures to the public or to the Administration.
The group’s letter may be read in full here. This Letter to the Editor was received on April 21, 2024.
Ari ~ Apr 22, 2024 at 6:27 am
You continue to ignore Jewish students in your work and it’s disgusting. Jews at Clark are afraid. They’re saying it, the WSJ article said it. Siding 100% with Gaza and any anti-Israel (often antisemitic) movement in this country is now cool and hip amongst colleges, so your writers are just falling in line with this. Still, absolutely nothing covering the fear Jewish students are feeling or anything but your one-sided publications.
B ~ Apr 22, 2024 at 9:09 pm
This was submitted as a Letter to the Editors, which any person is free to submit as per the guidelines on this website, which I’ve copied here:
Letters to the Editor
The Scarlet accepts signed letters addressed to the Editor at a maximum of 250 words. This is an opportunity for any community member to address The Scarlet’s Editors directly.
It is inaccurate to respond to this specific piece as if it were written by the staff, and even if it were, the Scarlet represents Clark students and their opinions, including opinions you disagree with.
I encourage any Jewish students or other non Jewish students to write about the experiences you’re discussing and submit it for publication. We are a small staff and are not able nor obligated to write about every issue arising on Clark’s campus. We can only publish what people are willing to write and submit.
Ken ~ Apr 24, 2024 at 9:02 pm
If you wanted to submit a letter to the editor stating your own opinion, you are absolutely free to do so. Anti-divestment concerns have been shared in news coverage of the incident, such as Quinn’s concerns in the article “Student Council Will Join Divestment Campaign.” You can also write your own article about this as a contributing writer or encourage someone else to if you feel particularly strongly about it.