The Daily Illini Editorial Board is excited to welcome back all the Illini to campus. Whether you are a returning student or this is your first year, view this as a clean slate. We all have the opportunity to be the best version of ourselves.

Given the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the divisiveness and hatred festering around the country, The Daily Illini denounces hatred, racism and fascism. We do not condone bigotry in our organization.

Chancellor Robert J. Jones and University President Tim Killeen recently sent out Massmails condemning ideologies of discrimination, bigotry and hate. The University does not represent any of these harmful ideologies, nor do we. We hope that as individual members of our community, you will condemn these ideologies as well.

When starting our current positions in March, we were faced with the responsibility of putting together the best newspaper possible. We want to be the voice of all students, so a few changes need to be made to make sure this happens.

It is our duty to this school, to the students and to ourselves to have integrity as an organization. Just as this year is a clean slate for us all, The Daily Illini turned over a new leaf when we set new goals for our staff.

Our goal for the paper is to be as diverse as possible. To be the voice of the college students on this campus, we need to mirror the diversity that this University is home to. This means contacting new sources and hearing fresh new perspectives. It is entirely our responsibility to go out and find these sources, and to make sure we offer all sides to the story.

In this endeavor, we ask for your patience. While we acknowledge that it is primarily our responsibility to reach out to various campus communities, we encourage you to help us by contacting us if you think we missed something.

It is each and every staff member’s personal goal to see this through. We want to cover all stories from all perspectives. A diversity of opinions from people from all backgrounds are welcome at The Daily Illini, and we are hoping that you, the readers, will hold us accountable.

If you feel compelled to tell your story, please consider joining us. We would be lucky to have you. We are looking for new voices to join our staff. Don’t like what you read in the paper? Think you can offer a fresh new opinion? Come and write for us. We are only as good as our staff.

We are holding information nights on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 from 7-9 p.m. in Gregory Hall. If you are at all curious about us, come by and see what we have to say. Talk to us individually and ask us questions.

We are on campus to serve the student population and bring them the news they care about. This is our job, but we hope you can help us reach our goals this year.