Letter from the Accent staff: Why we published the ‘Fight Night’ article

Accent Editorial Staff Accent

Editor’s Note: This editorial represents the opinions of the editorial staff, not of Southern Adventist University or its administration.

In an issue of the Southern Accent, published on Wednesday, April 5, the newspaper staff ran an article about Fight Night, a local boxing event organized by two Southern Adventist University students. Shortly after publishing the online version of the story, the Accent deleted the article from its website and social media accounts per the request of administration. Later that night, the university sent an email to campus denouncing the event and encouraging students to attend the Gym-Masters’ Home Show instead. At the time, both events were scheduled for the same night. parents, alumni, church members and other stakeholders chastised the Accent, and ultimately Southern Adventist University, for what they considered promotion of the event by the newspaper. versity” so prominently in the headline. While we attributed the event to the two student organizers and made it clear in the first two paragraphs of the story that Fight Night was an off-campus event unaffiliated with the university, some readers automatically made the false connection. Similarly, we believe our readers would have been better served if we had included a comment from administration regarding the university’s position on Fight Night. and other details. In addition, it brought awareness to the larger community (administration and parents included) about an event drawing hundreds of students. is unfair to blame the newspaper for an event that hundreds of students had attended long before the article was published. We also believe the university should not be held responsible for students — most of whom are now young adults — deciding to venture off campus for a non-university-sanctioned activity. Instead, we see the story as an opportunity for intergenerational dialogue about issues that continue to divide us as a denomination.

The article and the subsequent university statement ignited a firestorm among readers who provided immediate feedback via phone calls and emails to the university as well as comments on the Accent’s Instagram and Facebook social media accounts.

Many parents, in calls to the university, questioned whether their children should continue attending Southern because of the boxing event, which they consider a brutal sport inconsistent with traditional Adventist values. Some

SonRise Resurrection Pagent 2023

Despite rainy conditions, hundreds of visitors attended the Collegedale Church of Seventh-day Adventists’ annual SonRise Resurrection

Pageant on Saturday, April

8. Attendees walked across Southern Adventist University’s campus and witnessed Jesus’ final day before the cross, His death and His resurrection. Church members and Southern students played the parts of Jesus, His disciples and other characters in the Easter pageant. A gallery of photos of the event will be published on the Accent’s website, southern-accent.org.

Southern Accent

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At the same time, dozens of students, alumni and other readers came to the Accent’s defense on Instagram and Facebook, arguing against what they considered “censorship” by administration and the resistance among many Adventists against boxing and other competitive sports. At the crux of the controversy is a generational divide concerning such issues that has long existed.

As a staff, we apologize for a few misjudgements on our part regarding how we reported and published the story.

First, we acknowledge that the article could have taken less precedence in the hierarchy of the newspaper articles published last week, especially as it overshadowed coverage about the upcoming retirement of Kari Shultz, the director of Student Life and Activities. Shultz has been a beloved figure on this campus for 24 years and deserved better recognition in the paper.

In hindsight, we also regret writing “Southern Adventist Uni-

Yet, we stand by our decision to cover Fight Night because we exist to serve our readers, even when it means reporting on university, denominational and societal issues that make people uncomfortable. As student journalists, we are responsible for reporting the truth and ensuring that our readers are well informed about the world in which they live.

The newspaper’s role on campus is to be the student voice, which has been its motto since 1926. This means reporting on issues and events that are timely and relevant to students, whether on or off campus. The Accent prioritizes stories based on news value (a standard practice in the field of journalism), which is determined by such factors as timeliness, oddity, relevance, proximity and impact.

We felt it was important to publish the story about Fight Night, as it included all of these elements. It is a large event that involved Southern students as participants, organizers and attendees.

As a newspaper, we felt it was important to provide our readers with as much information about the event as possible. So, the article focused on the organizers and their motivations for creating the event, as well as safety measures

A concern raised by some is that the Accent does not give the same attention to other on-campus events, such as BCU Night, Asian Night and the Gym-Masters’ Home Show. The Accent dedicates valuable space in most issues of the newspaper to photo spreads featuring the various cultural nights as well as other on-campus programs. We also publish weekly stories notifying readers of upcoming events. However, oddity and impact are news values we must consider when deciding which stories to cover. In the case of Fight Night, we wrote a story about an unusual event drawing 500 to 750 students.

Moreover, it was never our intention to promote Fight Night — that is not our role as news reporters. The Accent remains objective when writing news stories. We reserve personal viewpoints and commentary for our Opinion, Lifestyle, Sports and Religion sections, as well as occasional editorials that are clearly labeled as letters from or to the editor.

The Accent staff did not create Fight Night; we are just the messengers. Therefore, we believe it

Finally, we are not responsible for — nor can we control — the way readers react to the news. When reporting the facts, there is always the risk that someone might be offended. While we attempt to minimize harm, as stated in the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics, we believe a well-informed public is crucial to a democracy as well as a healthy, thriving society. In this case, we felt our coverage of Fight Night shed light on an important topic affecting our community.

Editor-in-Chief

Alana Crosby

Managing Editor Amanda Blake

News Editor Matthew Orquia

Collegedale News Editor Elsie Pak

Social Media Manager Anna Estep

Lifestyle Editor Elise Deschamps

Photo Editor Adam De Lisser

Religion Editor Madison Wilcox

Opinion Editor Christina Cannon

Sports Editor Jacob Nevis

Copy Editor Stefanie Green

Layout Designers

Anton Kannenberg

Hannah Mortenson

Web Manager Nickolas Nieves

Circulation Manager Norelie Cabrera Reporters

Génesis Ventura Hannah Johnson

Photographers Ron Cabacungan

Mila Bales

Preston Waters

Staff Sponsor Alva James-Johnson

Benge Retiring

continued from page 1 decide once and for all what to do. So he prayed.

“I opened my eyes — this is a true story, but people won’t believe it — and I was blinded by colored light in my rearview mirror,” Benge said. “What the Lord had done is somehow move a shower [of rain] between my truck and the sun, and there was a rainbow, … the end of it right in the back of my pickup truck.”

Now, after 25 years at Southern Adventist University, Benge, dean of the School of Health and Kinesiology, is retiring this May.

“It just amazes me, looking back and reflecting on [my life],” Benge said. “[God] always looked down on me with favor and protected me for some reason.”

Benge’s years at Southern began in the early 1970s, when he was a student. Phil Garver, his predecessor as dean of Southern’s Physical Education Department, now the School of Health and Kinesiology, had taught Benge physical education at Mount Vernon Academy. His intramural program satisfied Benge’s desire to compete, and his teaching helped inspire Benge to study physical education at Southern, where he attended from the fall of 1973 to the spring of 1977.

Benge immediately got involved with Southern’s swimming pool as a lifeguard. He became certified as an American Red Cross Water Safety and Lifeguard Instructor, a qualification he’s held for 50 years. He also met his wife of 45 years at the pool.

“We had these huge water polo games on Friday afternoons. We’d play across the deep end; we had some goals made,” Benge recounted. “My wife would come in, and we’d play water polo. That’s where I met her, so the rest is history with that story.”

After a stint at Southern, he taught at an Adventist academy in Pell City, Alabama. A couple years later, he and his wife both found teaching positions at Tidewater Adventist Academy in Chesapeake, Virginia. The school was near a large naval base, so the student body was incredibly diverse. Benge considers his teaching experience at Tidewater and later living experience in New Mexico great preparation for working on Southern’s diverse campus.

After nine years, Benge and his wife moved to Collegedale to teach at Spalding, and, in 1998, the uni - versity hired Benge to be the aquatic and intramural director. In 2001, Benge completed his doctorate in physical education from the University of New Mexico and became a professor at Southern. Ten years ago, he was appointed as dean of the School of Physical Education, Health and Wellness, but he never forgot where he started.

“I never fully got away from the swimming pool,” Benge said. “I’m still teaching basic swimming and lifeguarding this semester. Every morning I check the chemicals.”

Benge considers the following to be his three signature accomplishments as a Southern employee: expanding the community swimming program, building the intramural program and creating special rules for intramural sports during COVID-19.

Judy Sloan, professor in the School of Health and Kinesiology, will succeed Benge as dean on June 1. Sloan, a professor at Southern for 22 years, said she is thankful for Benge’s diligent work and plans to have his number on speed dial.

“Benge told us two years ago that he was going to retire this year, which I really appreciate,” Sloan said. “Not everybody prepares their department like he did for us, and that’s a huge blessing.”

Southern choruses perform with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera

Alana Crosby Editor-in-Chief

Bel Canto, Southern Adventist University’s women’s chorus, and Die Meistersinger, Southern’s men’s chorus, performed Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in D Minor, K. 626” with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera last month.

The concert took place on March 30 at Walker Memorial Auditorium.

Gennevieve Brown-Kibble, professor in the School of Music and director of Southern’s choirs, said it was the first time since 2017 — when the chorus performed Poulenc’s “Gloria” — that Bel Canto and Die Meistersinger have participated in such an event. She said the gap in performances with the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera has been due to scheduling conflicts.

Bel Canto and Die Meistersinger performed with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra Chorus, directed by Darrin Hassevort, Chattanooga Symphony and Orchestra, directed by Kayoko Dan, and four soloists. Combined, the group included 130 members.

In an email to the Accent, Kibble wrote that the choirs took a class period after the performance to reflect on the experience.

“There was a wide range of responses from the students,” Kibble wrote, “including how this challenging work helped them improve their rhythmic skills, extended their vocal range, breath control and endurance, taught them perseverance, a new appreciation for the Latin language, the power of singing the gospel and an increased awareness that anything is possible when we trust one another and work towards a common goal.”

As the director, Kibble hopes her students learned lessons in hope and joy as well as expanded their musical knowledge and capabilities.

“[I] hope they reflect on how far they’ve come from the time they first opened the score and saw a bunch of black dots on white pages to the kind of supernatural joy that comes from rehearsing and performing music with and for others,” Kibble wrote.

“Singing with a choir can serve to remind them that they are not alone and that they don’t need to do life alone.”

According to the playbill, Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor suggests a still-evolving Mozart. It stated that the music is a glimpse into his facile genius and could have been a clarifying look into his “growing edge,” but it was muddied by the many hands that helped complete the piece of music.

“One reason this piece is meaningful is that the richness of its texts has transcended centuries and cultures,” Kibble wrote concerning the importance of the music. “We also hear Mozart’s mature classical style that reaches back to the Baroque past for inspiration even as it leans towards the Romantic era to come. This unfinished work entrusted to his student in his last hours reminds us that art is never ‘finished’ and that we run our best lap before passing the baton to the waiting runner.”

Victoria Mills, senior mass communication major, sings soprano in Bel Canto. In a text message to the Accent, Mills said she was glad to be a part of the experience.

“It was amazing to learn from other groups and musical leaders we were performing with. I feel like a better musician because of the whole experience,” Mills wrote.

Alumnus Dylan Vogel, who sings bass in Die Meistersinger, noted that singing the Requiem was “a reminder of the sustaining power and legacy of music. The Lacrymosa (one of the movements in the Requiem) is a reflection of the soul in its rawest form. You can’t sing it without falling to your knees.”

“Singing with a choir can serve to remind them that they are not alone, and that they don’t need to do life alone.”

Strawberry Festival to feature recap videos and live performances

Jahsoulay Walton

Staff Writer

On April 30, Southern Adventist University will hold its annual Strawberry Festival. The event will be held at 4 p.m. in Iles gym.

The first Strawberry Festival slideshow was held in 1979, according to information on Southern’s website. The event brings students together to recap their school year as it comes to an end.

Strawberry Festival Director Xander Ordinola, senior mass communication-photography major, shared his plans concerning this year's festival in an email to the Accent. He said the event will feature recap videos from the religion, sports and student life depart- ments; a look back at all of the Student Association events this school year and more. Attendees will also see live Gym-Masters performances, cultural dancing and music from the 2am Curfew band.

“In addition, there are a few other videos and a presidential goodbye,” Ordinola added.

Although focused on the event, the organizing team has been active all semester, especially on social media.

“What's been different about the Strawberry Festival this year is that there's been a lot more happening than just the end-of-the-year event,” Ordinola wrote. “For example, we've been posting weekly recap videos and photos from major events [on Instagram] as well as helping in the December Grad Fest.”

Memories yearbooks are usually distributed at the event but won’t be available this year since no one applied for the yearbook editor position for the 2022-2023 school year. Still, Ordinola said he has something special in store for attendees.

“It's sad that there isn't a yearbook this year, which was also another attraction for people to come to the Strawberry Fest,” he wrote. “But something I'm planning is to give out white T-shirts and markers for people to sign.”