Commitment to Diversity
In both our composition and work, our newsroom displays not only a high commitment to diversity, but also to equity and inclusion. Over my five years at Imua, I have collaborated with students whose home countries range from Ukraine to Ethiopia. The presence of residential life students (boarding students who live on campus) in Imua has steadily grown over the years. These students bring perspectives that can be highly influential even on our student audience at a school in urban Honolulu. For example, a residential life student from Ukraine created a documentary about how the ongoing war in Ukraine affected her relationship with her family. Many students at our school could relate to the themes of the documentary, as they probably have family living abroad. I was excited when we were able to post this documentary on our website. Later on, that same student made a documentary on our school’s Surf Team, proving that diversity can be a ripple-effect of its own. Yet again, I was thrilled to upload this to our website.
As students learn and dive deeper into different communities, they find themselves sharing stories at the intersection of multiple communities. I emphasize the importance of working and interviewing people who have the potential to broaden your horizon. Additionally, it is also fascinating how diversity can bolster the ethical underpinnings of an article—or even an entire issue. I believe there is a deep connection between both that create a great experience for the reader. Thus, I always ask staffers and other editors to carefully think about their interviewees and make other ethical considerations surrounding their articles. For example, in an article about increasing the number of gender neutral bathrooms in our school, I had a conversation with the reporter which resulted in them attending a GSA (Gender Sexuality Alliance) Club meeting to present their quotes and graphics. After the meeting, the GSA Club had a few suggestions to revise the graphic attached to the piece, and I worked with the reporters to integrate the new art and information appropriately. In this article, it was extremely important that we were representing the issue accurately in the eyes of the GSA Club.
Living in Hawai‘i, diversity also plays a large role in our final copy editing process. With many names having Hawaiian diacritical markings, I make sure that we are accurately placing these markings in names that are commonly seen without them. After all, we must acknowledge the roots of the names and honor the choices made behind them.
Just in the past two issues, we have had a number of pieces that show our commitment to diversity—from exploring the roots of slang in African American Vernacular English to understanding the successful push for Indigenous Peoples’ Day in our own community. The latter demonstrates how you can seek to be diverse just by exploring a novel movement within your community. That itself is very powerful, suggesting that a thought or idea does not have to be physically or geographically far away from you to promote diversity.
Below are articles from our past two issues, featuring a variety of student writers and showcasing our commitment to diversity. I’m proud to have edited, in both writing and design, and to have had the opportunity to work on such pieces with students.
