As individuals we want nothing more than to be accepted for who we are.

With that being said, mistakes are made by all of us.

In the March 13 publication of Viewpoints, there is an article on Page 19 that I overlooked and I am not proud of publishing.

Before I get into the article, I take full and all responsibility for all articles Viewpoints runs.

The article that was published is highly offensive to the LGBT community and goes so far as to say that gays should not participate in sports.

This opinion does not correspond with the Viewpoints staff or myself.

Although I encourage my staff to express its opinion on certain topics, this particular article is not and will not be the standard for Viewpoints.

As editor-in-chief I take full responsibility for having this article published and apologize to anyone who was offended.

I will make the necessary changes to ensure this will never happen again.

First off, I will take it upon myself to thoroughly read and edit every article that will be published.

Secondly, the column in which the article was written has been replaced. The writer who wrote the offensive column will be only writing game reports.

And lastly, I have added a diversity editor to the staff. This editor and myself will closely edit and monitor any article that could be offensive.

We will not restrict ourselves, but we will be more vigilant in the future.

With all these measures in place, I will do everything I can to prevent this from happening again.

My hope is that our readers pick up our next issue of Viewpoints and are pleased to see the content inside.

If anyone would like to express their concern or have any questions on this matter please contact my personal email at [email protected] or visit the newsroom located on the opposite side of the Assessment Center.

Travis West

Viewpoints editor-in-chief 2014