The Trapeze staff has various opinions on many issues. But whatever our opinions may be, one of our paper’s goals is to “represent all voices (of the community) to the best of our ability,” as detailed in our mission statement. This includes publishing opinion pieces that do not align with the majority of our community’s opinions.

The Trapeze published an opinion piece by News Editor Jackson Hassler this February. His story argued that the OPRF community should extend its progressive values and generosity to the unborn. 

The story was not an editorial and therefore did not represent the view of the Trapeze’s editorial board or staff. As with every article published in the Trapeze, Jackson’s op-ed went through an extensive editing process before publication with collective input from several different perspectives.

We hope everyone thoroughly reads the op-ed with an open mind. We understand that the story introduces a new, atypical argument to the ongoing debate, which may be met with opposition but should be considered by every member of the Oak Park and River Forest communities. 

While the hope of its publication was to spark civil discourse, the article distressed quite a few students following Monday morning’s distribution of the paper. 

In response, some students made personal attacks against Jackson on social media and around the school. While we encourage freedom of speech and insightful discussion, feedback that threatens someone or diminishes their character in any way is disrespectful and not a fair representation of the student body.

We are open to any feedback from students, faculty, and community members. We ask that you express any issues you may have about the article as a letter to the editor or op-ed in the form of a rebuttal, which responds to Jackson’s arguments. Since we do not publish in print again until April 4, we will work to include rebuttals here on our website.

That being said, we will continue to publish student op-eds of all political ideologies. Our platform should act as a free market to foster an atmosphere of civil exchange. We hope that future opinion stories will result in genuine discourse and tolerance among students.

–The Trapeze Editorial Board

You can contact Trapeze by sending an email to [email protected], or by direct messaging us on Instagram at @oprftrapeze.