Responds to “Pitch Opinion: The Fall of Leadership” by the Pitch Editorial Board:
Having taken leadership for the past three years, we’ve found it deeply unfair and hurtful to read an article that misrepresents the hard work behind organizing student-led events. While everyone is entitled to their opinion, The Pitch’s lack of journalistic integrity in this piece is morally unacceptable.
Journalists have a responsibility to report accurate, respectful and ethical information. This article fails to do that. It spreads misinformation about several events and includes quotes that were stated to be off the record. It was especially frustrating to see the article try to compare past student leaders, incorrectly identifying Luke Liden as a former president, to our current SGA President, Shae McCloskey.
Even more disappointing was the claim that we don’t promote female sports. That felt incredibly hypocritical. Shae is the only female president in recent years who plays two different female sports at Walter Johnson, continuously pushing out content to promote games and she has led with professionalism and intentionality. Meanwhile, some of her male predecessors were known for stunts like shaving their heads or going shirtless during football games and this comparison shows a clear double standard.
What the article also fails to recognize is the amount of effort it takes to make sure our decisions represent the entire student body. Every event, campaign and initiative is planned with the goal of being inclusive and meaningful to everyone. Many members of our leadership class are actively involved in sports, theatre, MSP, BSU and other inclusive groups, which gives us a broad perspective on the diverse interests and needs of our student body. That kind of thoughtful leadership takes time, care, and commitment and it deserves more respect than this article offered.
We continuously strive to reach as many students as we can through advertising student run events, through morning announcements, social media posts and videos and by putting up posters around the school. A primary point of the article claimed that this year’s attendance for school events has been lowered, with a specific focus on P4P events, including but not limited to flocking. However, these statements were made with the writers failing to reach out to any of the students running flocking and asking about the turnout, how much money was raised and how many houses we flocked. There was no information used to base this opinion beyond what the writers saw, even though they never tried to evaluate our involvement.
We are committed to continuing our work with integrity and dedication, always striving to acknowledge and respect the feelings and perspectives of all students. We understand that students might think we “don’t do anything,” but the reality is that most of the work and time dedicated to leadership are done behind closed doors and without any recognition. Our community deserves reporting that is honest, thoughtful and respectful of the people who work hard to serve it.
