Where does The Mirror fit in at Fairfield University? We’re technically not a student organization, yet we are completely student-operated. The Mirror is not the official newspaper of Fairfield University, yet most consider us “Fairfield’s newspaper.” How does this all make sense? Events of the past few days have mandated that we revisit our role within the community. This past week, it came to The Mirror’s attention that our issues have not been appearing in the Quick Center, by mandate from the university. Considering that many visitors to our campus are here to attend an event at the Quick Center, the administration became leary of making The Mirror so readily available to those who are not part of the university community. On the surface, one might assume that, however misguided, the university’s administration is within its rights to exert power over The Mirror. In reality, this is not the case. The reason that The Mirror is not technically a student organization is because it is an independent corporation in the state of Connecticut; we have a charter, a board of directors and officers. The directive of The Fairfield Mirror, Inc. is to publish its product every week for the student body of Fairfield University, and we enjoy independence from the university itself. Students directly pay for The Mirror in their tutition, and are, in effect, our customers. As The Mirror has improved over the past few years, it is clear that this increase in quality has had a direct effect on how we are viewed by the administration. We have worked to provide a realistic view of Fairfield for its students and faculty. With this pledge has come the need to publish stories that do not always cast the university in a positive light. Because of this, The Mirror is unfortunately viewed as something that it hasn’t been in past years: a threat. The administration of this university should realize the role that The Mirror’s board is obligated to play. Our job as Fairfield’s independent student newspaper is to best inform the student body, even if this becomes disagreeable to the administration. Despite this, the administration should realize that it disrespects its own students by being ashamed of The Mirror. The newspaper is published every week by students who the university’s admissions office admitted proudly, and is in turn read by thousands of other students whom were also once the pride of that same office. The Mirror is far from perfect, but its recent successes are evidence of the positive evolution of the newspaper, the university and its students. This newspaper is one of the few tangible representations of Fairfield’s student body and should never be hidden from the public eye. We hope that someday Fairfield’s administration will be proud of its student newspaper, for today, it clearly is not.