We are adding our names to this statement to affirm our commitment to diversity. We believe there is a lack of equality in coverage on minorities, especially when it comes to media and news stories published by The Daily Pennsylvanian (DP). Moreover, when minorities are covered in the paper, they are often not depicted as the multi-faceted individuals they should be depicted as. When was the last time anyone saw a Latino on the front page of the DP for something other than an article on immigration, or a dance performance?

The DP has become especially egregious in its depiction of minorities very recently. On Monday 3/11/2013, the DP published a full-page ad depicting all Muslims as violent, ignorant, and hateful. Would we have stayed silent if they had run an anti-Semitic ad? What if they had printed an ad depicting all blacks as gangsters? While the DP did not create the ad, it chose to run it. In doing so, it enabled a hate group to spread their message and make generalizations about an entire group of people.

This is not the first time the DP has done something of this nature and, unless we act, it will not be the last. This petition goes beyond putting a band-aid on a symptom and hopes to address the underlying disease. We wish to enfranchise and give a voice to students of every race, religion, political ideology, sexual orientation, and gender.

In 1993, 14,000 copies of the DP were trashed by students who were frustrated by the system and wanted to change it. By signing our names on this petition, we are hoping to send a message just as powerful, but we hope to engage the DP as we work (instead of only antagonizing them), in order to ensure that they are hearing our message and to promote an atmosphere conducive to change.

To administrators of the University of Pennsylvania: We recognize that The Daily Pennsylvanian is a separate entity from the University. However, there is a relationship that exists between the two. Administrators generally cooperate with the DP, and the DP has rights that are enjoyed by other student groups-- as well as others not enjoyed by most student groups, such as space in virtually every building on campus. We are asking you to use your influence with the DP to ensure that the cycle of apathy, on the part of the DP, is broken. We are not only students, we are human beings, and we demand to be treated as such. We hope to have you, as the people who run the University of Pennsylvania, among our most ardent supporters.

To the editorial staff at The Daily Pennsylvanian: We are asking you to formally acknowledge the need for diversity and the value added by a wide range of opinions and viewpoints. We are additionally asking you to formally publish a commitment to change for the better, including plans for: recruitment of a more diverse staff, covering stories on minorities that reflect their presence on campus, and specific points to watch out for when considering whether or not to run an ad. Finally, we ask that you not only set these goals, but that you outline steps you will take in order to meet these goals.