Happy new year, dear readers!
Every year, we learn and grow a little–2021 was no exception.
Last year, we had some unforgettable experiences that helped us grow both as people and as a team. As such, we also had to re-evaluate our work, values and role in the community.
We have decided at TCE to make specific, targeted efforts at including as many different members of our community as possible. In 2021, we launched the Queer Space column to offer a platform for queer and trans* folks with the option of anonymity. We also partnered with insideWaterloo by working together on a solutions-based story and printing one article from the publication every month for our readers.
This year, we hope to grow our relationships and also create new ones.
At the end of last year, we had an opportunity to truly reflect on our purpose in the community as well as consider to whom we want to devote our time and energy.
We want to be of service to any community members who want to share their stories, but we will hold ourselves and our contributors to high standards of inclusion.
That is to say, we will spend more time parsing each story for all the different perspectives and impacts possible; we will cover more in-depth stories about community members not seen by or included in mainstream media source; we will make an active effort to include more more volunteers of diverse backgrounds; and we will have clearer definitions for ensuring we remain a safe and inclusive space including more defined principles and rules on intolerable stances.
We have made mistakes in the past, we may make some in the future but we will take each learning opportunity and use it to better our service to the community.
Thank you for your patience, your work, your readership and your support. As we work hard on our resolutions, we wish you the best success in your own. Have a wonderful 2022!
