By Sara Hinkle, Associate Dean for Student and Community Development
I’m writing to express my disappointment and concern regarding recent comments that were posted by readers of the online version of the The Chronicle. Rather than using this forum to respond to issues raised in the articles, express constructive opinions, and engage in a thoughtful dialogue, people are using it as a stage to spread gossip, post derogatory remarks and launch personal attacks on specific individuals. It is even more disappointing that the majority of these comments were posted anonymously, or under pseudonyms; the writers were too cowardly to share their true identities.
Not only are these attacks hurtful to those individuals being targeted, but they reflect poorly on the writers, and the University student body as a whole. Since these postings are available to anyone with web access, people all over the world, including potential employers, have the ability to read these comments and form opinions about the University and its students. From the outside looking in, based on these comments, one might conclude that University students are mean-spirited and immature, rather than the caring, thoughtful, and involved people that I know them to be.
I fully support students engaging in constructive dialogue and sharing differences of opinion, as that is the essence of the academic experience. However, these negative comments only serve to degrade the University environment. I implore students to think carefully about what they post in online forums, for the sake of their own reputations, if not for those of the individuals they target.