On February 8, The Colgate Maroon-News published an article that included factual errors and misleading language regarding the Torchlight tradition and the alumni conversations surrounding it. In an attempt to correct these inaccuracies and take full responsibility for our failure, here are the facts as we now understand them. The Editorial Staff would like to thank the members of the widespread Colgate community who have reached out to the newspaper to hold us accountable as Colgate’s campus news source.

Colgate’s Alumni Council, formed nearly a century ago as a body independent of the university, represents all voices of alumni both in its elected structure and its practices. The Torchlight Working Group was formed by the Alumni Council in the fall of 2017. Working closely with the administration and Artist-in-Residence Barnaby Evans, the Working Group acts as an intermediary connecting members of the Colgate community and promoting a continued and widely-representative dialogue.

The Editorial Staff of The Maroon-News, failing in its rigor to complete a full accumulation and analysis of the facts, chose to publish an article we now know to include misleading and inaccurate information which has unintentionally undermined the efforts of those involved in the productive and ongoing conversation surrounding the Torchlight tradition.

We at The Colgate Maroon-News believe we have an opportunity to learn from our harmful mistake. We failed to demonstrate our serious commitment to journalistic best practices and profoundly apologize. We hold accurate reporting to the highest standard, which we failed to meet. We wish to be a voice connecting current Colgate students and alumni and recognize that what was printed this week did not act to serve that mission.

President Brian Casey has indicated that there have been no decisions made about the ceremony and he has indicated that he will begin a variety of conversations on the campus to gain thoughts about how the ceremony might be conducted this year.