In certain respects, St. Lawrence is a microcosm of America. We are a small liberal arts university in one of the poorest counties in New York State; poverty and privilege sharing the same geographic space. Some of us can afford full tuition, while others are accruing staggering levels of debt. We often come from predominantly white communities, but many of us hail from more diverse backgrounds, economic or otherwise. We are mostly American, but also Chinese, Spanish, and Kenyan (to name only a few). Some of us are liberal, others conservative, and many are often, unfortunately, indifferent to politics. Some of us are students, others professors. We are Dana workers, custodians, and librarians. We are involved in Greek life, athletic teams, the Dub, the Hub, theme houses, and Thelmo. We are a community comprised of individuals with varying interests, inclinations, and dispositions. The Hill News must represent all these viewpoints.
In an age where journalism is more important than it has ever been, it is essential that The Hill News represents all the diverse perspectives on campus. If you think I’m being hyperbolic, consider the amount of issues confronting us. Climate change, political partisanship, racial tensions, terrorism, and economic inequality are but only a few of the issues that we must deal with. Even here at St. Lawrence— whether you are a student, community member or employee— you encounter these issues on a daily basis. If we want to overcome the onslaught of challenges facing us, we need to have respectful, informed discussions. We need to be a community.
As editor-in-chief, my goal is to facilitate that process. I am humbled to carry on a tradition dating back to 1911, the year The Hill News first published a paper. Since then, the number of issues we publish has waxed and waned, and we have expanded— and continue to expand— into the digital world, but our mission remains constant. We want to inform our readers, and include more voices in the conversations we hope to spark.
When you flip through a copy of our paper, or scroll through it on the web, you’ll encounter content ranging from local news to biting satire, and everything in between. You may learn something, have an opinion confirmed, or perhaps stumble across a viewpoint that angers you. If the latter occurs, I implore you to reach out to us and offer your own perspective on the issue in question. Disagreement is unavoidable in any society, but dialogue is the best way to bridge tribal and ideological divides.
By reading the Hill News, you will learn more about the happenings of St. Lawrence University, North Country, and the wider world. This year, we are starting a recurring column of places to visit and things to do in upstate New York. If you are from the area and have a place you want us to profile, send us an email (hillnews@gmail.com) or message us on Facebook.
In closing, we ask for your patience and support throughout the semester. Typos, formatting errors, and corrections are inevitable. But we will learn from our mistakes and continue to improve the paper. Week after week, our team of writers and editors will work our hardest to ensure that the paper informs the St. Lawrence community and promotes conversations on important topics.