Letter From the Editor
Compassionate and effective academia cannot stand alone. It relies on a free and expressive student community. I am proud to present Hibou Magazine as a manifestation of this community will, in order to combat the lack of empathy and energy effecting AUP students. The first issue of Hibou Magazine will be focusing on discourses around education, both at AUP and globally. This issue tackles experiences of voicelessness, representation, and compassion in education. AUP prides itself on our diversity, but we must not rely on just that. We need to use it to push for productive discourse; the breadth of our ideology must equal the dazzling heterogeneity of our population. Our university promotes diversity but does not provide support for the obvious pain and difficulty that it brings. This is, while noble and exciting, not enough.
Twenty three years ago, Joseph Loux, in his last issue as editor of The Planet AUP’s longest lasting student publication, spoke of the same issues of accountability, representation, and lethargy that we bring up now. Our hope is that Hibou magazine fills this need, and honors the legacy of The Planet. We will not serve as bread and circuses. We will present critical analysis and accept our burden as a university floating between cultures. Loux assesses the administration’s response to the Planet’s critiques:
“As has often been in the past, the Planet has come under fire this semester for trying to create controversy and being too pessimistic. I also suspect that the administration may interpret it (if they read it) as kids letting off steam. These views strike me as alarming and unrealistic. Pessimism may seem an appropriate term, as (you may have noticed) AUP has a track record for bad news. Yet problems are a sign of health for a university, provided that they be dealt with rapidly and effectively. This has not been the style of AUP’s administration for as long as I’ve known it, nor for as far back as the planet’s archives take me.”
It is my radical hope that Hibou will continue the legacy of Joseph Loux and the Planet, but also have our own unique impact. I have faith in our ability to work constructively and peacefully with the community to elevate discourse at AUP. Hibou magazine is joining various student publications -Lutetian Journal, Roaches, and Paris Atlantic, among others- to pay tribute to a rich legacy of student representation.
Journalism at AUP has suffered a loss of diversity, accountability, and creativity due to the monolithic nature of ASM. Hibou Magazine will not only fill these gaps, but breed a new platform for free expression and thought. We, as AUP community members must take responsibility to approach each other with empathy and grace.
Photocopy of Joseph Loux's Article, AUP Archives
