The first edition of the West campus newspaper. Photo by Shaylin White

The final words on a campus' voice

By James Garcia
Former faculty advisor

This is a eulogy.

Not for anyone in particular but in honor of the death of a noble representative in the pursuit of an ideal.

This edition of the West Times, as you may already know, is the newspaper’s final edition.

Formerly known as the West Express, the newspaper has been published every regular semester for nearly 15 years. Its esteemed founder was Peter Aleshire, a former lecturer at ASU West and a noted Arizona author.

The ideal the writers, editors and publishers of the West Times have pursued has been a simple one, though hardly simplistic: free speech.

Free speech elitists, if you’ll excuse the oxymoron, would like to believe that there’s an ocean between what the New York Times and Wall Street Journal do versus so-called minor news outlets like the West Times.

Not so.

There is no principle difference, for instance, between serving as the people’s watchdog on student government or national government, except in the degree of impact of government harm or good.

Like its more esteemed cousins, the West Times, at its core, has been a champion and defender of free speech.

As the newspaper’s faculty advisor for the past three years, I have had the honor of guiding and teaching an extraordinary and diverse collection of students who operated the West Times (including its most recent editors-in-chief, Casey Lynch, Eric Johnson and Eric Lorenz).

Aside from serving as the newspaper’s de facto publisher, it was my job to instill in the staff a sense of the duty and privilege of journalism. It is a duty because every time you publish a story, you are representing your readers, and by extension the citizenry of our community. It is a privilege because relatively few people in our society have the skill and opportunity to do that job.

I am deeply saddened by the newspaper’s demise. Its readers should be as well. The full exercise of free speech is better served by having a variety of independent media through which our voices can be heard.

As I write, West Times Editor-in-Chief Eric Lorenz, as we say in the business, is putting the newspaper’s last edition to bed. On a personal note, I’d like to say that I am proud of the dedication and the commitment displayed by the hundreds of students (many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in journalism) who have been part of West Times over the years.

They should be proud of the newspaper’s legacy.

If for no other reason, because free speech matters.

James E. Garcia is the former faculty advisor for the West Times. He currently serves as a research fellow for the ASU Center for Community Development and Civil Rights.