My name was on the same page as his. My words were on the same page as his. His name is a disgrace upon this city. So why, why do we continue to give Peter Tefft a platform for his disgusting views?

Why even interview a man who justifies his views by cherry-picking the words of God? There is no excuse for his participation in the events that took place in Charlottesville – a town whose name will now forever be synonymous with the martyrdom of Heather Heyer.

So many more questions remain. Why would the official newspaper of my school give way to this kind of speech? Why is his opinion the only one displayed?

Why is the other side of the story not told? Why is Tefft, who is not a student of NDSU, featured on the third page of the Spectrum? And, a popular question from the Facebook comments: has the Spectrum no sense of decency?

It is not only my name for which I am concerned. Why is NDSU, a reputable university, content with their moniker on the same page as Fargo’s famous fascist? Why is it acceptable to mix the message of NDSU with that of the likes of Peter Tefft? So tell me, Spectrum, is your honor worth the interview with Tefft? Do your advertisers know that you gave this platform to a white supremacist? Oh, excuse me – white activist. Because we are still acting as though those are not synonymous. As for me, I know I won’t be picking up a Spectrum newspaper for a while.

Lindsey Pouliot, Senior, English, lindsey.j.pouliot@ndsu.edu