The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

The Student News Site of Saint Louis University

The University News

Letter to the Editor: Greek Response

Letter+to+the+Editor%3A+Greek+Response

After reading the Opinion article in last week’s paper, I feel a responsibility to respond. I have been noticing on social media, mostly on Facebook, that many within the SLU community are disrespectfully attacking the article, and I feel that it’s undue. The section under which the article was written is titled opinion. One of the most fitting definitions of the word opinion is “a personal view, attitude, or appraisal.” This reflects the individual quality of an opinion. The great thing about opinions is that it’s your own and no one has to agree with it. You can hold onto your opinion, and not a single person in the universe has to agree with it. That still doesn’t make your opinion wrong. An opinion can never be wrong. It can be unfavorable to you, and you can disagree with it. But that is your opinion. What I am seeing on Facebook is a lack of respect for the opinion of others. I was raised to listen to the views of others under the pretense that it could expand my knowledge and teach me to be open-minded. Disagreeing with someone’s belief is not a just cause to disrespect him or her.

When we come to SLU we are introduced to the concept of “Living the Oath”. This Oath was written to be an Oath of inclusion. This oath states:

“We find higher truths when we seek to understand the complexity of our neighbors’ identities, we obtain greater knowledge when we consider the perspectives of our fellow students and we begin to strive for a better world when we build a stronger community.”

This means that the non-Greek community is open to learning about the Greek community, and the Greek community is open to hearing the opinions of those that are not Greek affiliated. I believe that was the intent of Mr. McKinley. He states in his article that he encourages people to respond and open a discussion about SLU and the Greek community and its collective influence. However, the opposition that I’m seeing on Facebook isn’t opening any kind of discussion. Most simply say the article is wrong and close-minded and that no one should read the paper anymore so that the UNews learns its lesson publishing articles like this.

Overall, I expected more civility and respect from those within the SLU community. I hope that this reaction does not keep the University News from publishing articles like this in order to appease the feelings of those who cannot learn to show respect the opinion of others.

Story continues below advertisement
View Comments (2)
Donate to The University News
$1410
$750
Contributed
Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Saint Louis University. Your contribution will help us cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The University News
$1410
$750
Contributed
Our Goal

Comments (2)

All The University News Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • M

    Michael LothSep 20, 2014 at 7:56 am

    Ms. Ziegler has hit the nail on the head! Being closed minded and disrespectful is often a result of values learned (or not learned) in our upbringing. University life is perhaps the last chance many will have to open their minds and respect our legitimate differences.

    Reply
  • S

    SLU StudentSep 18, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    I agree with this. The article was an opinion. I even saw people calling on the SLU community to end all financial sponsorship with the UNEWS, simply because one of its writers published is OPINION, and stated that it was unaffiliated with the rest of the organization. Mind blowing.

    Reply