With less than two months to go in my yearlong term as Executive Editor, I had made it through unscathed.
The Daily Pennsylvanian's 119th editorial board had yet to spark any major controversy on campus.
However, after a series of articles regarding crime on campus, my relatively quiet tenure faced a challenge.
Last month, the DP's coverage incited a forceful reaction from members of the student body. Once the smoke cleared and both sides got off the defensive, meetings were scheduled and against the odds, the hope for a productive dialogue began to develop.
However, when it became clear that the only time the leaders from the DP and the minority coalitions could meet was 9 in the morning, I was already dreading it.
To clarify, the hours before noon are not ones that I do with any degree of tact or grace. In a fit of nerves, I set four alarms and made sure I had enough money for coffee on my way to the office. It was imperative that I be alert by the ungodly hour of 9.
I made it to my first 9 a.m. meeting on time, but not without apprehension. I realized that I was nervous about this meeting, what would be said, and how I would react.
All that I could think as I glanced around the room was how different this experience was going to be: in the newspaper business, and particularly at the DP, we are in constant motion. There are always sources to call, or news tips to pursue. There's also a paper to put out on a daily basis, and we hustle to have it out of our hands and at the printers by 3 a.m.
But the room which we were all sitting in -- the DP's very own Large Conference Room -- seemed like a new place to me without the piles of papers, the bitter arguments, the intriguing debates and the overall feeling of a panicked race towards a deadline.
After multiple sessions of this nature, I came away with a greater understanding of the issues at hand. If nothing else, each "side" walked away with a greater knowledge of how the other worked. This understanding doesn't, of course, magically solve the dispute, but it did establish a common ground from which insightful debate could be pursued.
This semester, the issues that have again been raised about what role race plays in the media -- specifically here on campus and at the DP -- are familiar terrain. It's a debate that reoccurs on campus with alarming regularity.
In some instances, it's been a minor scuffle sorted out with a few "Letters to the Editor." On other occasions, it has erupted into protests and heated exchanges between the two "sides."
There seems to be a preordained script for the DP and the minority communities in these situations. Meetings are held, issues are addressed, but any possible solutions are swept under the table. Ultimately, few changes are made, and the same issues fester.
Somewhere along the way in the past month, we have managed to send this dialogue on a new path towards resolution. The hope is to challenge what has been done before and to actually escape the revolving door that we've been stuck in.
On Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. in Huntsman Hall G86, the DP and the minority communities at Penn will host a first-time event: "Media on Campus: The Daily Pennsylvanian, APSC, UMOJA, UMC, Latino Organizations and the community engaged in dialogue." It's an experiment; it's not a solution. It's a work in progress.
The DP and minority coalition leaders acknowledge that this dialogue has evolved into something meaningful. But we know that this mutual understanding cannot just stay between the "leaders." It has to reach out to a broader community.
And so, we invite all of you to come address the issues and begin a widespread dialogue on Friday afternoon. We realize that you, the reader, have something to say -- and so we implore you to share that with us. It's crucial that we get as many people involved as possible -- and not just representatives from the DP and the minority community.
Look on the bright side, at least we aren't asking you to be anywhere by 9 a.m.
Amy Potter is a senior World History major from Albuquerque, N.M. and executive editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian.
