As informed and opinionated as Creighton students are, they seem to be tight lipped when it comes to the press.

“I can’t talk to you,” or “I wish I could, but I would get in trouble,” are common phrases thrown at reporters every week.

It is a shame that so many students feel they don’t have the right to voice their opinions and experiences.

Students in IRHG, Residence Life, Greek organizations, CSU and Dining Services have all said to the newspaper that they can’t talk to the press.

That is an amazing percentage of our campus whose voices can’t be heard, and we are all at a loss because of it.

When we go through four years of undergraduate life at Creighton, the hope is that we graduate as men and women working for and with others. We are supposed to be leaders in our communities. We are supposed to get the message out. But why, then, can’t we talk to reporters?

Last semester the Creightonian did a story about safety in residence halls. Reporters got tips from students in the residence halls about safety concerns, but when it came to do interviews, no one wanted to stand by thier comments. They were afraid of getting in trouble.

We did the story anyway. We tested to see if non-Creighton students could get into

each hall.

While working on the story, reporters asked desk workers about their experiences on the job. We wanted to find out if they felt safe at the desks, if they thought only Creighton students could get into the halls and how security could be improved. They would be the best sources on the story because they have these experiences first-hand.

Desk workers have invaluable first-hand knowledge about the issue of residence hall safety.

Unfortunately, every single desk worker reporter we talked to said they would lose their job if they were quoted in the newspaper.

Creighton trains students to fear the media instead of recognizing it as a valuable resource.

Some organizations and departments on campus have policies forbidding people to speak to the media, but others do not.

Not only have students stopped getting involved with newspapers, but they have stopped reading them as well. Readership of local newspapers is down all over the country.

Who would want to read newspapers filled only with quotes from public relations personnel? Who would want to read page after page of press releases instead of real news?

So Creighton, open up the lines of dialogue. Don’t be afraid of what members of the community think, feel and experience.

If students don’t recognize their own value in their community, how can they truly become leaders?