To the editors, reporters, photographers, and staff of The Sophian:
When President Sarah announced on Oct. 30 that Fort Hill would remain open through at least summer 2029, this message had given all of the affected families something we badly needed: relief. When I arrived to pick up my daughter at Fort Hill on Friday afternoon, the mood was decidedly celebratory. Seeing the exhausted looks on the faces of fellow parents and our beloved teachers, we said to ourselves, “these last two weeks have felt like two years.”
To be sure, Fort Hill’s long-term future remains unresolved, but we have gained precious time. I want to thank all of the students who helped our community understand what was at stake and kept asking the important questions.
I write to you as a Fort Hill parent, a faculty member, and a member of the Journalism Concentration’s advisory committee. I could not be prouder of you, all of you, at The Sophian. I want to give special thanks to Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Simmons-Robles for your incredible leadership, and to Miriam Pennock and Seija Ellum for your thoughtful reporting and writing.
You moved quickly. You chased down leaders, listened to parents and educators, and brought in student workers’ experiences. You highlighted the dissonance between promises of expanded child care access and families’ accounts of what care actually exists.
For families imagining their children’s days without their beloved teachers, and the beloved teachers confronting the loss of their livelihoods, being heard matters profoundly. Thank you for seeing and hearing us.
After I read your reporting, I couldn’t help but revisit The Sophian’s mission, and bear witness, with my own eyes, how you have embodied its conviction that “freedom of expression and debate by means of a free and vigorous student press is essential to the effectiveness of an educational community in a democratic society.” Missions are meaningless when times are easy and things are good; missions mean the world when times are hard and it acts as your moral compass. Your courage has allowed you to sail through these straits. Your reporting has made Smith a better-informed community, more capable of examining its choices and holding its leaders accountable.
There has been a streak of student newspapers holding truth to power in recent times: the Harvard Crimson documented the depth of Larry Summers’ relationship with Jeffrey Epstein; The Dartmouth investigated its provost’s academic misconduct; The Cornell Daily Sun has scrutinized the university’s response to the “Cornell 7” sexual-assault allegations.
These student driven reportings remind us that elite colleges and universities’ stature and prestige brings responsibilities their community has every right to examine. You carry this torch at Smith.
My own research on political violence in the Philippines brought me into contact with journalists whose courage fundamentally transformed how I understood this profession. In the face of legal harassment, death threats, and extrajudicial killings, they resolutely stand behind their rallying cry to “hold the line.” At heavy costs to themselves, they remain steadfast in exposing abuses of power and centering victims. They are among the most inspiring people I have ever met. They shine the purifying light into places where the powerful operate in darkness and secrecy.
You are young student journalists, and you may not be facing these same circumstances. But I recognize in your work the moral courage and strength of conviction on which this noble vocation depends: the willingness to ask, to listen, and to insist that people deserve an honest accounting of decisions affecting their lives.
Uncertainty still lies ahead of Fort Hill’s long-term future. The Oct. 30 announcement gave us some breathing room, a tactical pause, if you will. But as we look ahead, there will be more questions that need to be asked, more scrutiny that needs to be placed. And when that day comes, I rest easy knowing that The Sophian will be there. Covering every decision, and pursuing every lead.
Thank you for your service. You have served this community, within Smith and beyond, with distinction. I am deeply grateful to you, and deeply proud to be your colleague in this community of learning. You held the line.
With sincere gratitude and admiration,
Captain (Retired) Cheng Xu, PhD
Assistant Professor of Government, Journalism Concentration Advisory Committee Member, Fort Hill Parent
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