The Record’s 2023 editorial board has recently voted to allow its members to write opinion pieces, ending a long-standing internal policy that prohibited board members from contributing to the opinions section.

For the sake of transparency, a founding principle of the Record, I am writing this letter to inform members of the College and Town communities about the changes they may see in our opinions section in upcoming weeks.

Though our policy will enable members of the Record board to write opinion pieces, it prioritizes submissions from community members and ensures that editors’ pieces contain disclosures of their positions on the board.

All members of the editorial board — except for the editor-in-chief and managing editors — may write opinion pieces, though they are prohibited from writing opinions about topics for which they are contributing news reporting.

This is a policy that many of our peer institutions follow; editors at The Wesleyan Argus, The Middlebury Campus, and The College Voice, the student newspaper at Connecticut College, may all contribute opinion pieces to their newspapers, and this policy has served them well.

We have carefully considered how best to preserve our journalistic integrity and prevent conflicts. After extensive discussion in the Record office, our board has voted with a commitment to upholding our values while embracing positive change.

Now, editors no longer need to choose between committing to the Record’s board and expressing their opinions about issues that are central to their values, beliefs, and identities.

I am confident that current and future opinion editors, managing editors, and editors-in-chief will apply this policy consistently and earnestly, and that they will keep the paper trustworthy, accurate, and informative.

Sincerely,

Ella Marx ’24

Editor-in-Chief