Last December, Editor-in-Chief Savannah Peifer, Copy-Desk Chief Jasmine Die, and myself met and decided to publish this special print edition to celebrate Black History Month. But more than that, to the three of us, this issue is a call of duty. 

Five years ago, the University Press published a similar issue highlighting six black students and staff members. Part of that issue reported on how from 2008 to 2016 FAU’s Black student body had grown considerably.

According to the latest available Diversity Data Report, that percentage has only continued to grow. However, we haven’t published another Black History Month issue, or any issue of the sort.

For reference, FAU has seen three different head football coaches in that span. Before the one in 2018, it had been more than 13 years since we had published a Black History Month issue— as far back as our records go. 

In our most recent print issue, Savannah wrote in the opening line of her Editor’s Letter that the University Press was formed on the basis of serving the FAU community. 

That foundational principle was meant to extend to the entire FAU community. But, are we fulfilling that responsibility if we are allowing the stories that are important to the Black students on our campus to go unreported?

Our Black student body is a foundational part of what makes our campus so unique, and what allows us to call ourselves one of the most diverse universities in the nation. As the university’s most prominent student-run news source, it’s our duty at the University Press to ensure that the stories near and dear to our Black students reach the forefront of our community’s mind.

So, yes, this issue is a celebration. But to us at the University Press, it is also the fulfillment of our duty as student-journalists: serving every single student at Florida Atlantic University.

Editor’s note: This story is in the UP’s latest issue that can be found physically on the distribution boxes around campus or digitally through our Issuu page.

Cameron Priester is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email cpriester2020@fau.edu or tweet him @PriesterCameron