The Echo Staff

Over the summer, a number of Augsburg students came forward and shared their stories of sexual abuse from their fellow community members. Some of the accused students have been regular members of The Echo community and have been present in our meeting and community spaces. Our mission as Augsburg’s student newspaper is to uplift the voices of our student body and provide a platform for students to speak about topics that matter to them. We recognize that this work requires doing our part to cultivate a safe space on campus. If we remain silent in the face of sexual misconduct, we create an environment that tacitly endorses sexual abusers and contributes to a culture that systematically silences survivors of sexual misconduct. Until a process of restorative justice has occurred in respect to the survivors, the students who were found to be sexual abusers over the summer will not be allowed to write for The Echo or be present in Echo community spaces, and we will treat any future accusations of sexual misconduct with equal weight. In accordance with our commitment to centering voices that are often silenced and marginalized, if members of the Augsburg community who are survivors of sexual abuse wish to share their stories in The Echo, we welcome them to do so.