Last semester, I wrote an article for The Brackety-Ack titled “Overloaded and Undervalued? Current and Former Roanoke College Faculty Respond to Administrative Actions,” which reflected the opinions of current and former faculty members about ongoing issues at the college. I chose not to include my own opinions in the piece, focusing instead on the faculty’s perspectives. I felt it was important not to dilute their voices with input from other groups, such as students or administrators, as it might overwhelm the central narrative. The article took about half of the semester to complete, and throughout this time, I conducted interviews and communicated with both faculty and administration. Despite no support from the administration for the article, I was not censored and was able to publish it.
The process of writing the article revealed how deeply personal and complex the issue was. Many of the faculty members who left the college did so because they felt undervalued, despite their passion for teaching and the institution itself. This pattern of loss of dedicated professors is not coincidental; it reflects a larger problem of respect and inclusion.
As a student journalist with limited resources, I faced significant challenges in producing the article while balancing a heavy academic workload. However, I believed the issue was important and necessary to address. My hope is that the article contributes to ongoing conversations about how to improve Roanoke College’s environment and fosters collaboration for the institution’s future success.
Mikaela Gantz
Editor-in-Chief
