We recognize that concepts like diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to the work we produce in our student newspaper. Rather than assuming everyone fully understands these ideas, we believe it’s crucial to keep learning and growing in this area. To support this commitment, we aim to bring diverse voices onto our staff and into our stories; regularly reflect on our cultural awareness and how our language shapes storytelling; and actively engage with our community to ensure our practices align with these values.

Diverse voices

The Pepper Box pledges to include stories about students of all backgrounds and be conscious of the differences that make each individual unique. This diversity focus includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, ability, and ideology. The Pepper Box represents the community, so it should reflect our community. Everybody in the community helps to build it. Everyone deserves to have a voice and the ability to tell their story. This diversity must also be represented on the staff, which should build a culture of inclusivity at all levels, including leadership. 

Cultural knowledge 

The Pepper Box pledges to reflect on our own cultural knowledge, so that we can continue to learn and grow in our work. This means looking inward, but also making sure we are also learning about other groups and acceptable expressions that go with those groups. We seek to continue our education by using inclusive language and avoiding bias and discriminatory language. This will allow readers to feel more of a connection to our publication and comfort in sharing potentially sensitive information to help educate others. 

Community engagement and reflection

The Pepper Box pledges to create community engagement, seeking feedback and dialogue with a diverse group of community members. This will allow for a sense of togetherness and will allow the staff to educate not only the students but also the community members on topics. In addition, the staff will use a diversity, equity, and inclusion audit after every publication to make sure that we are consistently representing the community that we serve and hearing voices from all people. There is always room for improvement, and we will always look for what we can do to be better.