WEDNESDAY, NDVEMBER 30,2D161 PAGE 9
EDITORIALS:
Staff editorials are written by the editorial board and intended
to represent the stance of the ENN staff, who have an
opportunity to offer feedback on each topic. Staff editorials
and other opinions content are separate from news coverage.
COLUMNS:
Columns are written by ENN staff members
and represent their informed opinions.
Columns and other opinions content are
separate from news coverage.
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O STAFF EDITORIAL
You did the best anybody could do, Dr. D.
HOW WE SEE IT
Faculty, staff, students should remember Dr. Danieley the way he
wanted to be remembered: recognizing he did his best.
When an ENN reporter
in the fall of 2016 asked
him how he wanted to be
remembered, Dr. Danieley’s
response was nonhesitant:
“I don’t need anybody to
brag on what I did or any
thing else. If they say I did
the best I could, that suits
me alright.”
So, to honor the man who
was central to transforming
the community we love, we
will attempt to do just that
here: Dr. D, you did the best
anybody could ever do.
Dr. Danieley’s job was not
easy. When he assumed the
presidency in 1957, he didn’t
take the position for person
al benefit.
He assumed leadership
over a school that had over
due federal loans and weak
infrastructure. Echoing what
Verona Daniels-Danieley,
his late wife, famously said
when he agreed to the job:
Poor Earl.
But in face of challenge,
he did the best he could.
Always.
He did his best to become
a teacher. Even when his
journey was interrupted
when his mother forced him
to return to Elon to run the
family farm and work part-
time for the federal govern
ment.
He did his best to devote
his time to the most mean
ingful activities — even if
that meant leaving his Dean
of College position at Elon
for a year to do postdoctoral
research at Johns Hopkins
University.
He did his best to make
Elon more inclusive. He
founded the women’s athlet
ic program at Elon. He was
pivotal in working toward
racial equality on campus
when Eugene Perry ’69
became the first African-
American student to earn an
Elon degree.
Despite being more than
90-years-old, he did his best
to sit in brutally hot weath
er during move-in days,
welcoming students into
Danieley.
He couldn’t sit outside
the whole time, but he did
his best to for as long as he
could. And he loved it.
As a community, we must
take his commitment to do
the best we can do — espe
cially in the face of hardship
and make the community
even better.
Dr. Danieley did the best
anybody could do. And
we are a better community
because of it.
REAKING: The Opinions section contains opinions
Leena Dahal
I Opinions Editor
: @Leen3Daha!
Its there in print, on the top
right-hand side of this page, in bold,
white, Oswald: O-P-I-N-I-O-N-S.
^There’s a tab online, too. But in case
you missed it: This is the Opinions
, section and the Opinions section
(contains opinions.
There is reason behind my
redundancy. As Elon News
Network’s opinions editor, I often
'^have to remind impassioned
Jemailers that there is a defined
I line between “opinion” and “news”
^ and that, shockingly, we allow our
• J opinionated columnists and con-
gtributors the freedom to express
T their informed opinions in the
^ Opinions section.
The section thrives when a
meaningful exchange of ideas takes
place, it exists to provide readers
with the opportunity to react to
issues, and it allows the public to
hold news organizations account
able by providing a venue for Letters
to the Editor.
What that looks like for me, as
editor: publishing opinions that
are grounded on factually correct
information — even if I funda
mentally disagree. In other words,
that means I am publishing content
that sometimes warrants a “yaaaas”
and other times warrants a “yikes.”
When members of the community
react to a Campus Voices piece,
that means I defend the contrib
utor’s right to an opinion and our
editorial decision to publish it, and
I encourage people to bring their
concerns to the public forum by
writing a counter-piece or rebuttal.
In a gist, that’s what the Opinions
Section is.
But let’s focus on what the
Opinions section is not: Opinions
are inherently not facts (though
they are derived from facts). And
more importantly. Opinions con
tent is not news. And it’s vital to
recognize the difference.
Though, the line between
“news” and "opinions” is over 170
years old — with many crediting
Horace Greeley for inventing the
idea of designating a separate
page for opinions to distinguish
“opinion writing” from “news
reports” in 1841 — people blur
them far too often, especially in
this digital age.
Far too often, columns are
confused for news articles. No,
that Odyssey Online “article” you
shared on your Facebook timeline
is not news. No, Nicholas Kristof
doesn’t represent the views of the
New York Times. And no, our
decisions to publish conservative or
liberal columns or Campus Voices
pieces do not mean we are actively
seeking or celebrating a certain
political opinion.
Far too often, media organiza
tions are branded by the political
leaning of the columnists they syn
dicate. And to the disdain of every
professor who specializes in media
literacy, confusion even exists
among journalists — both profes
sional and aspiring.
I’ve had to remind some of
my colleagues at ENN, who I feel
are sometimes quick to dismiss
the value of the section because
they believe it undermines our
ability, to remain “objective,” that
it exists and operates differently
in journalism, and it’s important
that we recognize, remember and
celebrate that.
I’m met with rolling eyes, of
course. Because let’s face it, “news
matters most.” But the Opinions
section plays an imperative role now
more than ever.
In a society where consumers
and professionals often blur the
lines themselves through the con
tent they share or create, it is vital to
define a particular space in media
that welcomes opinion journalism.
By doing so, we can better iden
tify spaces that do not — like, you
know, the news section.
And in a time where anybody
can sit behind a screen and share
hurtful opinions grounded on inac
JANt SEIDEL I Digital Manager
curate information through tweets
or Facebook statuses, we must cel
ebrate a space where opinions are
filtered for accuracy and carefully
fact-checked. Columnists devote
hours constructing their opinions
responsibly by considering differ
ent sides of the issue. Copy editors
spend hours fact-checking them.
Separate from news but not less
significant — and, more important
ly, still journalism.
But anyway, that’s just my
opinion. And that is precisely
why it sits — proudly — here in
the Opinions section under bold,
white, Oswald.
Letters must be 350 words or less and
must be signed and submitted in a word
document to enn@elon.edu. The Pendulum
reserves the right to edit for length, clarity
and grammar.