To the Editor:
In this issue of your publication, there is an article about a meeting of the TCU Senate in which the content of the most recent issue of The Primary Source was discussed.
As the Editor-in-Chief of this publication during the issue in question, I would like to take this opportunity to let the rest of the Tufts community read what I said in my opening remarks regarding this issue.
Thank you for publishing this letter.
"I come before you, the representatives of the Tufts student body and various culture networks, tonight to apologize for a part of the Dec. 6, 2006, issue of The Primary Source. The motto of The Primary Source is Veritas Sine Dolo: Truth Without Sorrow.
Part of Veritas Sine Dolo is pointing out errors we see at this university; part of it is admitting when we make mistakes.
In the most recent issue of The Primary Source, I made the mistake of printing the carol "O Come All Ye Black Folk" in the form you see.
The carol was written with the intention of making fun of affirmative action by using satire.
The idea was to compose a carol from the perspective of an admissions officer in order to reveal the harmful nature of affirmative action.
However, many people interpret this carol as having crossed the line from making fun of a harmful institution to making fun of the black race. This was not my intention; it is not the opinion of The Primary Source that there are no qualified black students at Tufts University or that any of the other generalizations in the song are true.
I apologize that this carol did not accurately reflect the views of The Primary Source, and I take full responsibility for failing to edit it to ensure that it did."
Sincerely,Alison Hoover, seniorEditor-in-Chief, Fall 2006The Primary Source
