The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Editorials


The window display at Natty Beau on the Corner.
Opinion

​The problem with Natty Beau’s window display

Retail store Natty Beau, a recent addition to the string of shops in the Corner area where many students eat and socialize, currently has a window display meant to entice its young clientele, featuring crumpled red solo cups scattered along the floor under its mannequins.


Opinion

Hazing is more than just a Greek problem

In fact, Greek life, since it has institutional checks and balances in place — as well as an entire University office devoted to regulating it — can be more easily held accountable for reported acts of hazing compared with CIOs or other student groups.


Opinion

​What we can learn from Columbia student activism

The board’s decision to divest — and to refrain from investing in private prison companies in the future — serves as a reminder of the varied impacts universities can have. While this past year we became consumed with issues over which our University has more direct control, the impacts of a given school can extend far beyond its physical campus or student body.


Opinion

​What’s wrong with Wheaton’s health insurance decision

While there is merit to the debate over religious exemptions to this mandate, Wheaton officials were not yet being forced to act against their religious beliefs. Moreover, they did not even attempt to grandfather students into their new policy, halting coverage immediately for students who probably expected to remain covered through their school as long as they remained enrolled.


Opinion

Yes to gender-neutral bathrooms

Issues facing LGBTQ students can be complex, but one issue that almost uniquely plagues transgender and gender non-conforming students is the issue of invisibility. When spaces demarcate between just two genders — male and female — and force all students into one of these two categories, transgender and gender non-conforming students are rendered invisible to existing structures.


Opinion

Reevaluating structures in higher education

If it is not conscious decisions, but rather subconscious biases as a result of existing structures, that push administrators toward unethical tendencies, addressing ethical issues in higher education is that much more complicated. But this case-study provides some clear solutions: one could be that administrators be required to review their decisions in one consistent platform; another could be that outsiders come into college campuses over certain periods of time to discuss current ethical dilemmas.


Opinion

​Eramo’s letter and Rolling Stone’s ramifications

We cannot overstate the harm these generalizations have created. People who are survivors may not see themselves as such, or if they do, they may not report their stories. And those who work tirelessly on behalf of survivors and take all the right steps — such as informing survivors of all their options and allowing them the room to make a choice to give them back their agency, something Erdely condemned in her article — must fear that doing the right thing will be manipulated and distorted by an ill-informed public.


Opinion

​Acknowledging our history

Slavery was ubiquitous, and therefore markers of its existence and impact should be ubiquitous, too. As we strive to confront this history and best navigate the waters of simultaneously appreciating and condemning the contributions of major historical figures, making our physical spaces reflect that contradiction can only help.


Opinion

​Free tuition is unrealistic

As these colleges strive to raise revenue, they are attempting to do so without it being, literally, at the neediest students’ expense. It is unrealistic to expect a school to be completely or close to free, as wonderful as that would be.


Opinion

​Student groups handled “American Sniper” right

By turning the viewing into an opportunity for dialogue about the state of Muslims in America and globally and how the film contributes to perceptions of Muslims, the MSA made it possible for the film to be contextualized. Students who may not otherwise question the presentation of Muslims and Middle Eastern individuals in the film had the opportunity to do so this weekend. In fact, it was probably better for students to watch “American Sniper” in this setting — a setting that ultimately forced them to think critically — than to see it at a movie theater where they may not view the movie the same way.


Opinion

​End racial gerrymandering in Virginia

It is extremely disappointing that the General Assembly has yet to produce a new, fairer map. What the General Assembly has done so far has actually been contrary to the goal of undermining gerrymandering: this past session, the General Assembly passed numerous bills tweaking existing districts to make them less competitive instead of properly responding to the U.S. District Court’s initial ruling.


Opinion

​Finally, a faculty Board member

The Board has included a non-voting student member for a long time prior to this recent inclusion of a non-voting faculty member; this speaks to the disconnect at our school between the various populations in need of representation. With our commitment to student self-governance, students have the privilege of independence, and therefore fewer interactions with faculty members outside their academics. Compared to other schools, there is likely increased interaction between students and administrators, without interim faculty involvement.


Opinion

​Don’t curb student protests against sexual assault

There is a difference here between what public and private schools may regulate, but there is no difference between our University and Columbia in terms of what is right and wrong when it comes to the voicing of student concerns. In this case, Columbia students should not see their protests restricted.


Opinion

​Lack of transparency in BOV led to member quitting

Keeping information in the hands of only a few Board members is problematic for obvious reasons. But if it was so egregious as to lead to the resignation of a prominent Board member, transparency within the Board must be an even worse problem than we anticipated previously.


Opinion

​Don’t just focus on Sullivan

The intense scrutiny of Sullivan — who has only been at the University since 2010 — begs an important question: where is that same scrutiny of other administrators who have been here much longer and whose impact is, in many ways, much more significant to the lives of students?

Puzzles
Hoos Spelling

Latest Podcast

The Organization of Young Filipino Americans is one of many cultural Contracted Independent Organizations at the University, and their mission is to create a supportive community for Filipino students. Danella Romera, the current president of OYFA and fourth-year College student, discusses the importance of OYFA as a cultural organization and how OYFA plans for this year’s Culturefest, an annual multicultural showcase. 

Listen to the episode here.