As you may have noticed, the Argus has been flooded with Wespeaks lately: vitriolic Wespeaks, impassioned Wespeaks, satirical Wespeaks. Unfortunately, we have also recently received and printed two Wespeaks that, unbeknownst to me, were not by the authors to whom they were credited. No “Jeff Pike” graduated from Wesleyan in 2004, nor does a “Michael Park” attend our school now. This kind of misattribution should never happen in the Argus, and particularly not in the context of heated debate. The reason we require all Wespeak contributors to provide a name and contact information is precisely to ensure that everyone takes responsibility for the opinions they express, and the issue at hand highlights the importance of this policy (and its successful enforcement).
I want to personally apologize to anyone who was upset by the Wespeaks in question, and by the idea that the people who wrote them go to or graduated from Wesleyan. On the other hand, I think it’s important to remember that *someone* did write those Wespeaks, and that whatever reaction they elicited from you is not false even if the names on the Wespeaks were.
In the past, it has been possible to make up a name and e-mail address and sneak a Wespeak into the Argus under false pretenses. (We thought we were being vigilant, but apparently not vigilant enough). We’ve implemented a new system for Wespeak submissions (you can check it out at www.wesleyanargus.edu), so if all goes well, you won’t have to worry anymore about hating (or loving!) a Wespeak writer who doesn’t exist.
Thanks for your understanding,
Marissa
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