The AS Review logo.
Dear readers,
Fall quarter, and likely the rest of this academic year, are going to look very different at the AS Review than in years past. Largely because the reality of fall quarter looks very different. This letter comes as an effort to increase transparency between the AS Review and its readers especially during a year that will bring a number of changes to both the AS Review and the Associated Students.
When the staff from last year left for the summer, the AS Executive Board had no President and a few days later Black student organizations on campus created a list of demands for Western and the AS. The AS historically has been and currently still is an anti-black organization. We hurt many of the Black students on campus when we claim to represent and serve them. At the AS Review we claim to be “By students, for students” but we also primarily publish stories by white students for white students and leave out students that we do not and choose not to understand. Our relationship with marginalized communities on campus is strained because of the misrepresentation of their stories, invading their spaces and causing them harm. On June 4th, 2020, the staff last year published a statement in solidarity with Black students on campus and in that statement we promised to match words with action. As your Editor-in-Chief for this year I fully intend to stand with this statement, expand upon it and follow through on these promises.
This year we continue to be working entirely remotely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that is still spreading through our community. With most of Western’s students working from home we have all made the change from face-to-face to remote instruction. Instead of walking through Red Square avoiding loose bricks, we find ourselves in any number of other places around the world. While some of us thought that things would be back to the way they were last fall, it is clear that day-to-day life will remain altered for the unforeseeable future. All I can ask is that you stay safe, stay home, stay healthy and look out for each other during a time when many of us are scared. The AS Review currently remains an online only publication with all of our content being available through our website, social media and podcast episodes meaning that any student with access to the Internet has access to any and all of our content.
In addition to changes to Western as a whole, the AS Review itself is changing. As I am writing this, the AS Review staff consists of only myself. While we have plans for hiring and attempting to return to more traditional publication, at the moment much of the work being done remains behind the scenes. I plan to continue the production of our podcast “Tripping on Bricks,” publication of updates from student government and sharing press releases from on and off campus organizations, but much of the work that I am focused on is in evaluating the practices and procedures within the AS Review that cause harm to BIPOC students on campus. I plan to review and revise our style guide, make student submission more accessible and ensure that the AS Review is indeed by students, for students.
That all being said, if you have comments, criticisms or any suggestions please email me at as.review.editor@wwu.edu.
Thank you,
PJ Heusted