On April 23, WSN published an op-ed entitled, “Guest Essay: We, a small group of LS faculty, call on Mills to resign.” The article was written by a few faculty members in the Liberal Studies program speaking on behalf of themselves as individuals as opposed to the LS faculty body at large. The authors, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, criticized NYU’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus, as well as President Linda Mills’ leadership. Since the article’s publishing at 8 a.m., my team of editors and I received several emails by LS faculty and university administration expressing concern over the implication of the original headline — “Guest Essay: We, as LS faculty, call on Mills to resign” — that the piece was written by a group representing all LS faculty, which is false. The headline, as well as language throughout the article supporting that implication, have been updated alongside a correction. The byline, originally “Concerned Liberal Studies faculty,” has also been updated to “A group of concerned Liberal Studies faculty” for added clarity.
As NYU’s primary student publication, WSN should have made it clear prior to the article’s publishing that the authors asked to remain anonymous due to safety concerns. WSN should have also made it clear that our acquiescence to the authors’ requests included the concealment of the number of faculty members who contributed to the article. The correction and updates to the piece do not eliminate the anxiety or stress experienced by members of LS faculty who, rightfully, feel as though they were implicated in an article that was not intended to speak for them. WSN regrets the lack of attentiveness and will ensure that this does not happen again. We also extend an offer to LS faculty who feel misrepresented by the piece to share their perspectives with WSN readers by submitting a guest essay.
The main points of concern among a number of faculty and administrators were the authors’ anonymity and a lack of specific attribution. To affirm, WSN does not normally publish anonymous bylines. Generally, we prefer to attribute every article, especially our opinion pieces, to consenting authors to ensure our commitment to ethical and truthful journalism, and that commitment will never change. But in light of the authors’ lack of protections as non-tenured faculty and fear of retribution from NYU’s administration, WSN made the decision to accommodate their request. This climate of fear and uncertainty extends beyond potential retaliation from university officials. Noncitizen students and faculty across U.S. colleges, including at NYU, are facing visa revocations, detentions and deportations — threatening their ability to exercise their right to free speech.
WSN will accept anonymous submissions on a case-by-case basis to ensure that all members of the NYU community are given the platform to express themselves as a form of protected free speech. Despite granting certain authors anonymity, our team of editors still engage in rigorous dialogue to internally confirm the identities of our writers prior to publishing. We, as NYU’s independent student publication, assert our commitment to serving all members on campus. WSN apologizes to any members of the NYU community who may have felt misled or misrepresented by the op-ed.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
