Over the years, the Wespeaks page has been problematic for the Argus Editorial Board. While wishing to provide a space for members of the Wesleyan community to discuss their opinions on campus issues and world events, we have often received submissions that lack the fundamental quality for which the page was designed: a concise, constructive opinion.
Many of our readers can no doubt recall having read Wespeaks that did not capture this essence and thus believe that they are entitled to write on any subject, silly or profane, and have their work appear in the next issue of the Argus. This is not the case, and as any journalist or editor will recognize, it is common practice for a publication to select at its discretion what to publish and what to omit.
This year, in an effort to continue increasing the quality of the Argus as well as foster discussion on campus, we will more closely supervise the Wespeak selection process. We will not publish pieces that ignore the length requirement of the section, nor will we publish articles that fail to meet the requirements outlined above. It is not our hope to censor our readers, but rather to grant the page a more substantive role.
The Argus believes that Wespeaks can be humorous, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. All of our readers are capable of producing well-written and interesting opinions and the Argus hopes that this clarification of its policy will encourage all members of our community to benefit from and take advantage of this section.
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