As you might expect, I am an advocate for the First Amendment. And I will fight for my columnists to have the right to express their views, no matter how unpopular they are.
This was the case for Michel Denton's column yesterday. It was unpopular. But that's OK.
A great amount of criticism has resulted, and many of the letters to the editor I have received argue Denton's facts and point out much of his rhetoric was flawed from its inception. This could be the case, and I want to ensure our readers that I will look into the research presented to me.
Some have said Denton used hate speech. This is wrong. Nowhere did he express hate. And if he did, I wouldn't support the column much less allow it to be printed.
We have received about 30 letters, and we couldn't run them all today. But we will run all of them in the coming days, either on our Web site or in print.
I approved the column Tuesday night. His perspective was one that exists on this campus. And I'm here to ensure a diverse dose of opinions are printed in our pages. Personally, I strongly disagree with Denton. But the pages of The Daily Reveille are not meant to lavish only my opinions. They're for the campus.
We select columnists of different backgrounds and interests, and each one writes a column of their choice each week. I don't have to publish any, but so far this year, I have maintained an open mindset to allow for a free marketplace of ideas.
Although some ideas may be deemed better argued and more valid than others, I have no plans to stifle free speech. But I also want our columns to have a foundation of good research.
Our mission isn't to force the opinions of our columnists on our readers. We only want to contribute to an informed dialogue.
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