After reading the Weather we printed on Jan. 31, I wasn’t shocked by the content of responses we received. Every single communication was from a concerned reader, angry and hurt by the bigotry that marked our staff box on page 2. We printed a brief apology the following day in the place of the Weather and I intended to handle the matter internally from there. That was a mistake. I neglected to truly consider the weight of our words.

I personally take responsibility for the content we printed and apologize to our readers and community, especially to those among us who we demeaned.

The individual responsible for authoring the Weather that day was immediately removed from the position.

Our editorial process concerning the Weather was ambiguous but has been redefined. It’s long been an anonymous submission (the ’human’s identity is known only to the editor-in-chief) from one of our close to 100-student staff. Many people have written the Weather this year, and it’s nearly always been submitted around the 12:30 a.m. deadline in a text message or e-mail from a staffer who has completed work and left the office for the day.

The editing process for the Weather now closely matches the editing process that we use for the rest of the paper. As of Feb. 1, I read the Weather then pass it through to three copy readers. For the most part, I leave the content as is. I appreciate the freedom of expression symbolized by the institution of the Weather, but that right was abused by the last ’human.

I encourage you to continue to question our content, but to do so with trust in our sincerity that the Jan. 31 Weather was a terrible mistake; a mistake that will never happen again. Most importantly, I encourage you to trust that the Daily Nexus is a not a den of prejudice.

— Elliott Rosenfeld
Daily Nexus Editor-in-Chief