This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

About a week ago, the following email was sent out to the entire Pilot staff in response to some of the feedback we received about our last magazine issue and some of the topics we’re covering in this edition. We thought it might be helpful for the rest of our community to read this as well:

In light of recent community issues and challenges on campus, it seems like there is opportunity for a bit of healing at Prin. We love this community, and we know we can always expect progress – that’s why we have things like the [May 19] Community meeting in place.

We think the Pilot has the power to greatly influence our mental atmosphere, and we could certainly make more of a concentrated effort to metaphysically support the Pilot and our relationship with the rest of this community. It might seem like a pretty obvious thing, but there is definite value in protecting our collective thought as we work to put the magazine together each week.

Based on a few letters we’ve seen from alumni and our community, it seems like there’s an interest in seeing the Pilot take on more “hard-hitting” topics. While we do want to tackle “real” issues, we strongly feel that the Pilot doesn’t exist just to “stir the pot” or cause unnecessary drama. We all have opportunities to report on tough issues in a sensitive, loving and thoughtful way. With that as our ultimate motive, we can never go wrong.

The Monitor‘s mission is “To injure no man, but to bless all mankind.” We might not print those words in each issue of the Pilot, but this is an idea we can internalize and put into practice in the coming weeks and years. Our primary goal is that everything we cover in the Pilot – from the Community Board process to athletics to free speech – is presented in a constructive way.

Our hope is that everyone involved with the Pilot has already taken measures to think prayerfully about our content and campus-wide issues. This email is just an opportunity to refocus our thought so that we can see the Pilot harmoniously through the end of this quarter.

Thanks so much for your thoughtful support. You are all such a valuable part of our team.

Maija and Warren

We hope you enjoy this quarter’s final issue of the Pilot. As always, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on what we’ve produced. Additionally, we would like to thank our readers for their support and enthusiasm. Enjoy!

Post Script Note from Warren –

I would like to take a moment to reflect on my experiences as editor of the Pilot over the last year. This year has been quite the journey for this publication, and I couldn’t have done any of this work without a ton of help – thanks to each of you who were on staff or contributed in some way to the Pilot in the last year. Every quarter has had its own unique challenges and it has been a pleasure tackling them with you.  If I had to leave you with one thing, I would say stick with what you care about. One rainy winter I was randomly recruited to be a Pilot designer. A year-and-a-half later I was an editor simply because I had stuck with it and picked up as much as I could on the way. Dedicate yourself, find a way to make an activity your own and you will make it great.