Join the Editorial Board

If you think that in 2017, journalism is going to the dogs, the newspaper is dying and opinion writing is moldering, there exists an obvious solution. Turn the tides and add your voice to the discussion; join the Chronicle’s independent Editorial Board.

You might believe that your voice is unwanted—that as a social conservative, a democratic socialist or a down-the-middle centrist, there is no place for you on an ostensibly stodgy, institutionalized Editorial Board. If so, you are happily mistaken. This Editorial Board—like all good ones—is not bound by stale ideological homeostasis. At its best, it works by taking a potluck array of ideologically diverse people and opinions and swirling them together in debate until something magical happens—the social conservative and the democratic socialist find a point of agreement; a consensus opinion is formed, a solution is drafted and the structure of an editorial is formed.

The process is not always easy, nor should it be. The board takes up weighty issues, and oftentimes that means criticizing established institutions at Duke (e.g. the foreign language departments or Greek organizations), controversial policies and important people. When criticism is in the air, the loud process of editorial formation can sometimes be less than mellifluous. But we strongly believe that through discussion, even semi-heated discussion, we can arrive at solutions and opinions better than those we could arrive at with only a single person’s input and thoughts. Discussion and unified debate allow us to contribute something special to the student body and Duke community: a refined voice that adds value to discourse and prompts people and organizations to pay attention to key issues.

In that way, joining and writing for the Editorial Board fulfills a civic and community duty—active engagement in discourse. Some fulfill that duty by marching in protests; others fulfill it through research and presentation; you can fulfill it by helping to write editorials read by a group of thousands of students, faculty and staff. As a voice on the board, you will help form a broadcasted opinion that speaks out against injustice and praises progress. If you feel strongly that Greek organizations ought to advance efforts to combat sexual assault, believe aspersions should be cast upon putative Holy Grails on campus (including unpaid internship opportunities and the beloved Duke study abroad program) or even stand staunchly against all of our opinions, join us. Debate with us. Write with us. Use your passion to add to our voice and shape our editorials. Choose to not only be a student who learns in the classroom for the sake of learning, but one who learns so that they can apply their knowledge in the service of society as Duke’s mission statement asks them to.

As our university, our state and or country rapidly hurtle through change and evolution, we on the Editorial Board seek to understand those changes and write opinions we believe will help others to understand and judge them, too. We encourage you to join us and prove that yes—in 2017, journalism is still a powerful force. Applications are due Wednesday, February 1. For more information, email sb371@duke.edu.