on justice and unity.

Most of you have seen this. Most of you are angry, and most of you have posted blogs similar to this. However, for those of you who haven't, I seek your attention and advice. Cedarville has recently been going through some "changes", and it has come at the expense of many students.

Let me begin with saying that I support the mission of Cedarville. However, I often do not support the daily decisions made by some key trustees, admins, and students.

I find healthy discourse at Cedarville very very difficult at times. Being united does not mean we have to be uniform. In fact, I would argue the opposite. Christ's disciples were all from different backgrounds, had different careers, and surely held different political views. However, they all passionately loved Christ. How is it that our university fails to acknowledge this?

Let us engage in healthy discourse and discussion that propels us to make intelligent decisions and to intentionally and wholeheartedly follow Christ. When the universtiy fails to create an environment conducive to this, or worse yet--try to prevent this from happening-- I find the result to be devastating and contrary to the mission of Christ.

I seek justice for our students. I seek unity-- not uniformity of our ideas-- but unity for Christ followers to delight in the love of Christ and each other.

Thus said, the real story....

Cedarville has recently decided to censor the student newspaper. This may not seem like a big deal, but it has had regrettable consequences. The act of filtering and cutting many articles totally undermines the purpose of Cedars existence. The newspaper will be moved to the Journalism department in the fall, but the faculty of that department have declared Cedars "too liberal" and will suspend publication at least for a semester. When things can be "brought under control", then a student newspaper will once again exist.

As a result of the censorship, our faculty advisor stepping down (he is stuck between a rock and a hard place), and the stern remarks of trustees, the other editors and myself have decided to not publish our last issue. The following letter is our response to the entire situation.

So now, students are upset. Some students, that is. Others could care less. Now, I am deciding what to do next. I think awareness is huge. This kind of censorship with this motivation is not just, and something needs to be done. We cannot suppress thoughtful discussion, we cannot suppress free speech. Now what?

I'll post more thoughts later, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

Da letter:

Students, Faculty and Staff,

We, the Cedars staff, regret to inform you that we will not publish our final issue.

The public relations department, directed by university trustees and some administrative officials, nowreviews, approves, censors and cuts the content of your student newspaper. Public relations employeesapproved every published article beginning with our seventh issue, the second issue of this spring semester.

Review and censorship by public relations breaks the operating model of Cedars, which was approved by the administrative council on Oct. 9, 2006. It outlines: “The student editors prepare copy for print and take responsibility for making decisions, along with the Faculty Adviser, for what ends up in print.”

As student editors for a student newspaper, we understand and accept some degree of fair and reasonable screening, as outlined in paragraph three of the Cedars operating model: “The Faculty Adviser reviews copy at his or her discretion in advance of publication and is responsible for the contents.” But the PR department’s excessive attempt to censor Cedars necessarily violates our operating model, and the Cedars staff has thus decided to cease publication.

Cedars has made incredible strides this year. Among them, we redesigned our Web site, started to translate our online content into Spanish, hosted video and photography, and sent students to an investigative news conference featuring investigative reporters from CNN, The New York Times, and The Columbus Dispatch.

We are disappointed that some readers often evaluate the entire newspaper based on Viewpoint pieceswith which they disagree. Cedars often pairs the most controversial opinions with opposing opinions, and the Cedars staff encourages and works closely with interested readers to publish letters to the editor.

In order to prepare students to affect the world for Christ, Cedarville University must equip students to work in mainstream media. Further, and perhaps more important, our student body must be able to think critically about a variety of issues, formulate cogent responses, and enjoy a forum in which they may share them. Review by the public relations department undermines our ability to think critically and engage culture.

We grieve the loss of free expression and healthy discourse once found in your newspaper, traits thatought to characterize all vibrant institutions of higher learning.

Sincerely yours,
The Cedars staff,
Joshua Saunders, Managing Editor
Michael Shirzadian, News Editor
Rebecca High, Viewpoints Editor
Daniel Sizemore, A&E Editor
Naomi Washatka, Design Editor

“Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, manyopinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.” – John Milton, Areopagitica
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for more reading:
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=ydzqSHptgsHpmY9qRdCgCfjxVnfGrShq
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2009/04/cedarville_stud.html

shalom.

on hope.

I have been back from the Dominican Republic for more than a month.

I desperately miss it.

I would I could express how much my heart ached while I was there; I wish I could tell you the stories of Damairus, of Angel, and of Israel. I wish I could show you how much they hurt.

Tomorrow I leave to go home for Easter break. I am so spoiled. I am so spoiled to be able to wake up in a warm house, to eat until I am full, and to celebrate with pagan gifts. How can I have all of this when they have so little? How can I have all of this and miss the hope that they so easily understand?

Hope.

Hope is the essence of Easter. Hope is the thing that spurs dreams, that makes love possible, and that keeps my faith alive. Damarius had such a deep understanding of the hope of her salvation-- hope that has kept her family alive, helped her during her illness, and will continue to spur her toward completeness.

Where is my hope? Do my luxaries take away from feeling hope of great things, of feeling the hope and joy and intrigue of my salvation?

"Almighty God, we beseech thee graciously to behold this thy family, for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the crossl who now liveth and reigneth with thee and Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen."

Let this give us hope.