Spread across the pages of The Hoya are 42 stories.
15 of these articles are hard news, focused on current campus events. Five are opinion pieces, all of which have an explicit connection to Georgetown University. One is an investigative piece that seeks to understand a significant aspect of the campus community. While each page represents a different collection of stories, what remains consistent is the dedication of each writer and editor in creating a paper to represent the Georgetown community.
These pages have defined my tenure as the editor-in-chief of this publication and my interactions with the Georgetown community as a student journalist. More importantly, though, The Hoya’s presence has defined countless generations of editors, exists as the living record of the university’s last century and provides the necessary news to all campus actors.
But over the past 100 years, student journalism has never been more essential. We document the emergence of social movements, fights for free speech and the intersection between the federal government and higher education. As local newsrooms are shrinking and cutting essential beats on higher education, the work of so many student newspapers now centers on keeping the campus and greater city community informed.
Right now, student journalism is both under threat and more important than ever, making it vital that student journalists continue this necessary work despite fears about the future.
Still, student journalism has never been easier to ignore. In my home state, the University of Alabama terminated two student publications — Nineteen Fifty Six and Alice — amid struggles between the federal government and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Indiana University cut print funds for the student-run newspaper, Indiana Daily Student, amid greater cuts in higher education.
These cuts illustrate a greater trend of viewing student journalism as unnecessary, fitting into the broader pressure on colleges and universities to shut down protest, suspend speakers and, overall, chill political activity. And it is working.
At the center of these weighted concerns, student journalists exist at a nexus of options.
One option, the easier of the two, is to cower in fear. We can allow our administrators to dictate our work and shape our publications to be overwhelmingly positive, even if the lived experience of so many community members says otherwise.
This choice, however painless it may seem, comes at the detriment of our media environment and the destruction of truth. News organizations, no matter their size, have a responsibility to serve their community, not an ideology or administration, with timely reporting focused on honestly explaining the truth.
Already, we can see professional news organizations mirroring this choice to back down in the face of adversity and cower toward the demands of a different administration. It is a symptom of overreliance on seeking permission rather than taking action.
Instead of shrinking under the pressure of any administration, we must make a different choice: the active, passionate decision to move forward fearlessly. Take the step to find those previously-undisclosed decisions. Pressure institutions to explain their actions.
In my experience, this passion to act is the most difficult but far more fulfilling.
I remember the first time I felt this fear in writing — I was part of a team that discovered private data available through a university server. I was afraid for multiple reasons, but most importantly, I feared I would upset university administrators and be pressured to step away from reporting.
That never happened, and, despite this fear, I knew that we had made the active decision to keep the university community informed.
This story was not the last time I was afraid to publish. Even as I anxiously waited for the campus community to read our investigations and breaking news, I realized that, often, without the work student journalists do in serving the campus community, an uninformed community emerges.
To our readers and community members, our slogan is “read the paper.” As newsrooms responsible for reporting on Washington, D.C., face major cuts and continue to lose reporters, student journalism has an important role, and my sincerest hope is for each person to take our slogan seriously and read the paper.
To the current and future members of The Hoya, remain steadfast to the truth and passionate about the work we do. When we look back at the particular moment, I hope to see continued dedication to the values and role of journalism. While this moment is particularly unsettling, the fundamentals of good journalism and its consistent need remain. We must continue to seek the truth, report it fully and serve our community without fear.
Maren Fagan is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences and the 152nd editor-in-chief of The Hoya. Her term ended on Friday.
