Voices from the Editorial Board: Revisiting our editorial policies


The opinions expressed in The Lawrentian are those of the students, faculty and community members who wrote them. The Lawrentian does not endorse any opinions piece except for the staff editorial, which represents a majority of the editorial board. The Lawrentian welcomes everyone to submit their own opinions using the parameters outlined in the masthead.


This week, we would like to utilize this space to lay out our editorial policies, which have recently been revisited in the wake of publishing a letter to the editor on The Lawrentian website on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021. 

The Lawrentian Editorial Policy as of Feb. 5, 2021

Lawrence University defines hate speech as “forms of expression (whether words or symbolic actions) that attack or use discriminatory language, or create an atmosphere of intimidation, harassment, or abuse, because of an actual or perceived identity group membership.” The Lawrentian will not publish anything that falls under this definition of hate speech. This applies to everything published in The Lawrentian, including Letters to the Editor, Staff Editorials, and any work written in any of our sections.  

All information claiming to be fact, including information contained in an editorial or opinion piece, will be verified for accuracy. This process will involve multiple rounds of flagging any potential inaccuracies as well as a team designated to addressing any flagged information. From there, editors will work with their writers to discuss the result and how to move forward with the piece if necessary. 

The Lawrentian reserves the right to refuse to publish material that violates our standards. When we find that we are unable to decide whether a piece violates these standards, we will reach out to members of CODA and at least one of our faculty advisors to aid us in our decision-making. 

If there appears to be a conflict of interest in either of these resources, we will seek additional outside perspectives so as to not allow this to deter our commitment to truth and inclusivity. 

This policy is being reviewed by CODA at this time for inclusivity and accuracy. It is subject to change and any changes made will be announced here in next week’s edition. 


Letters to the Editor can be sent in to Opinions & Editorials Editor, Lauren Kelly, at lawrentian@lawrence.edu. We review all letters and consider them for publication. The Lawrentian staff reserves the right to edit for clarity, decency, accuracy and grammar. All letters should be submitted on the Monday before publication, and should not be more than 500 words.