To the Editor:
As regular readers of the Swarthmorean with a strong commitment to strengthening our community, we write to share our concerns about a headline in last week’s paper for an article about the latest school board meeting. We were startled and disappointed by the use of the phrase “then things got weird” to refer to a victim’s impact statement regarding a sexual assault against a special needs girl in our district.
While the man’s statement may have taken the school board members by surprise, we should of course avoid any implication that to talk about sexual assault, to testify to its damaging effects, or to bring these issues to public attention is in any way “weird.” We ask that you issue an apology in this week’s issue to clarify that you in no way meant to imply “weirdness” in terms of the man’s desire to make a statement, let alone in terms of the content of his comments. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ruba Ahmed, Jayatri Das, Rebecca Davis, Mark Hofman
Swarthmore
Response
Read Swarthmorean Editor Chris Reynolds’ response to this letter