Uncategorized

Dear Hornet Community, 

The Critograph staff is excited to kick off a new semester of the newspaper and share both local and national news with our community. 

We will be posting the first issue of the semester next Wednesday, Feb. 1 and will continue with the normal posting schedule afterwards. 

We are looking forward to rounding out this school year with the Critograph and telling all of your stories. 

Wishing you a wonderful semester, 

Alyssa Wilson 

Editor-in-Chief 

Dear Megan, 

Thank you for reading The Critograph and for reaching out to the staff with your concerns. Without expression from the student body, we as a newspaper are unable to continue growing forward and set a precedent and reputation of what the Critograph represents. Here at the Critograph we believe that all students – regardless of their faith or lack thereof – should be able to express what they believe in and share those beliefs freely with the student body. 

Throughout its existence, the Critograph has been a space for any and all students to write about their faith. This includes a Wiccan column that has been active with the Critograph for several years. We work to make sure that articles are still inclusive and never work to harm the lives or wellbeing of others. In fact, we open the newspaper and welcome students of other faith practices to write about what they believe in as well. 

Before being posted, articles of all kinds go through multiple people to be edited and approved. Just like you, the editors of articles have varying views on religion and are all diverse in their own ways as well. This editing process includes the weekly Faith’s Faith article that you mentioned in your letter. Faith did not allude to harming any marginalized individuals through her article or use any harmful, aggressive language. Even after rereading the article after receiving your letter, we still found no harmful or offensive language within the article. 

However, we do agree that the University of Lynchburg should be a champion for diversity and inclusion, and as a paper we strive to uphold President Alison’s pillar of diversity by including articles about the Christian faith because that is what a student wanted to express. We understand that there are many other faith practices outside of Christianity and if students would like to write about those, they are more than welcome to. 

The Critograph is an inclusive space for all students and everyone is welcome here. We strive to promote equality and we will continue to put forth our best effort to minimize the promotion of hate on campus. We would implore you to please reread the article, and our email is always open for you to point out specifics that you found hateful in the article. 

Thank you once again for sharing your voice and your opinion with the Critograph. We welcome free speech and are open to hearing what our fellow Hornets have to say.

Thank you, 

The Critograph Editorial Team 

By Dr. Ghislaine Lewis ~ Advisor 

The Critograph kicks off the 2022- 2023 school year at the University of Lynchburg with its 107th volume and its third year as a solely online publication.

I also step into my sixth year as the newspaper’s advisor and I am so excited about the multitude of stories that our staff will uncover and tell this year.

The energy across our community is electric as we embrace our new normal.

As the student voice of the University of Lynchburg, we want our storytelling to be a collaborative effort as we celebrate the university’s triumphs and highlight its challenges as we work toward equitable and inclusive solutions.

Welcome to a brand new school year, Hornets!

My name is Alyssa Wilson and I am proud to serve as The Critograph’s editor-in-chief for the 107th volume of the newspaper.

I am a junior journalism major from Radford, Virginia. I love getting involved on campus and doing community service through the Bonner Leader Program.

Community and service are at the core of who I am and I am excited to cultivate that with you through our student newspaper, The Critograph. 

My goal is to create a community among our students, alumni, faculty and staff, and beyond through collaborative storytelling and engagement.

I hope you will join us each week as we seek to tell impactful stories from across our community, we will also be reviving some of our favorite columns from years gone by. 

The newsroom team and I hope you enjoy everything that the Critograph has to offer this year! 

Have a great semester, Hornets! 

Alyssa Wilson