The Fall of the Student Op-Ed

Talia Cutler ’27

Executive Opinion Editor

On April 14, Harvard refused to bend to the current administration’s crackdown on DEI and higher education censorship. President Alan M. Garber published an open letter, saying “Our motto—Veritas, or truth—guides us as we navigate the challenging path ahead. Seeking truth is a journey without end. It requires us to be open to new information and different perspectives, to subject our beliefs to ongoing scrutiny, and to be ready to change our minds.” This guiding principle of truth that Garber highlighted serves as an important beacon in the realm of expression in the midst of an incredibly dangerous and ever-shifting political landscape. Specifically, that of student journalism. Student opinion and editorial writing is facing a significant threat due to a confluence of factors, primarily stemming from government actions and the current media landscape.

I am not a student journalist. This is something that people often get confused about when they learn that I am an editor for the student newspaper. I do not write news, nor do I conduct interviews — and I have never once been interested in neutrality. I write opinions and editorials, which are based in fact but allow for more liberal use of voice and direct assertion. Op-eds function as a safe space for student expression. Clearly, this space is becoming less and less safe through administrative efforts (from Trinity and nationally). An April 7 article from the Guardian voiced that  “Editors at university newspapers say that anxiety among writers has risen since the arrest of the Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk, […] While the government has not pointed to evidence supporting its decision to revoke her visa, she wrote an op-ed last year in a student newspaper […] spurring fears that simply expressing (political) views in writing is now viewed as sufficient grounds for deportation.” 

This is not an unfounded fear — the Trump administration also warned that “anti-American activity” from “students at (…) universities across the country” will be “found, apprehended, and deported.” The ambiguity of Ozturk’s arrest, along with this administration’s wide sweeping (McCarthy-istic) statements like the one above, function as a chilling effect on free speech and opinions. This particularly targets students at institutions of higher education, which have been the target of recent government crackdowns. These moves against free press and higher-ed are no less than authoritarian. In this new age, student journalism operates as a double negative: not just journalists, but students at that. How repulsive! So, how are student editorials supposed to survive in these exceedingly oppositional conditions? 

We are in a day and age of misinformation, where real journalism is sullied by biased voices masquerading as truth. The right tunes into Fox News while the left tunes into CNN, ignoring the leanings of each and without questioning the content they consume. The prevalence of algorithms and overwhelming content that shows you exactly what you want to see with no room for differing perspectives sullies any opportunity for open-mindedness that editorials are supposed to invite. 

Thus, student op-eds are important because they engage students in higher education at an intimate and everyday level — the writer of that article on campus conservatism is in your afternoon seminar. You see them in the dining hall or out on Vernon street on a Friday night. The personal nature of student editorials allows for disagreement and dialogue at a truly matched level. Trinity College does not offer a journalism degree, despite the fact that its most famous alumni all work in “journalism” — or rather, commentary and opinion writing. Therefore, our campus newspaper is a standalone journalistic opportunity on our campus. It is the exclusive medium for publishing op-eds and covering campus happenings independently from the curated website. Although the school has a somewhat tumultuous relationship with the student newspaper, there is no denying the importance of both politics and commentary within our student body. 

While fear permeates our educational and political landscape, Harvard’s stand against censorship was a necessary and admirable step towards protecting student expression. Garber has effectively thrown the editorial section of every college newspaper a buoy. Yet, the integrity of the student op-ed is still in peril. In my last opinion of the 2024-2025 school year, I somewhat ironically have to wonder what it would take to truly save it?