In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, The Heights published an op-ed—a guest opinions piece sent to us by a member of the Boston College community—on the murder and its implications for free speech culture at BC.
We received a wave of feedback on the article criticizing our decision to publish a piece addressing this tragedy without addressing a litany of other tragedies: from a school shooting that happened the same day, to the Israel-Hamas War, to the assassination of Democratic state senator Melissa Hortman and her husband this summer.
What we did not receive, however, was a single op-ed spotlighting or providing thoughtful commentary on any of these issues.
We are writing this editorial to call on you, the BC community, to send us your opinions and fill The Heights with the issues you care about most.
Our job as BC’s independent student newspaper is to cover what is happening here on campus. When it comes to reporting, we focus our time and efforts on covering BC and the city of Newton with rigor. For national stories, we leave the reporting to national outlets with the resources and reach to effectively cover them.
It is our responsibility, however, to highlight and promote the voices of our university and the issues they care about most.
Alongside our columns and editorials, which are written and published by the staff of our paper, any member of the BC community can submit an op-ed or letter to the editor. By writing a thoughtful and factual piece articulating your viewpoints on current issues, you can help foster a healthier free speech culture on campus.
As The Heights reported, BC ranked seventh lowest in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)’s 2026 College Free Speech Ranking.
Although much of the report’s criticism centers on the administration’s exhaustive protest approval process and speech restrictions, the problem also lies in the attitudes of the student body.
FIRE reported that 58 percent of students surveyed said they self-censor on campus at least once or twice a month. Sixty-eight percent said shouting down a speaker on campus is sometimes acceptable. Thirty-two percent approve of using violence to stop someone from speaking on campus, at least in rare cases.
When we publish op-eds that you disagree with, they may make you uncomfortable—you may even take offense to them. But the solution to “bad speech” is more speech.
Maybe next year (with the help of some potential University policy changes), we will break FIRE’s top 200. In the meantime, we are waiting for you, reader, to start the conversations you believe are worth having by sending your commentary to [email protected].
Check out our guidelines below:
Op-eds:
An opinionated and argumentative article written exclusively for The Heights, providing a perspective that our regularly scheduled columnists have not.
Op-eds penned by entire organizations will only be accepted occasionally.
Between 500-900 words, although longer and shorter pieces will be considered.
Anonymous op-eds will only be accepted on rare occasions and at the discretion of the editor-in-chief.
Will be fact-checked and edited for clarity in consultation with the writers.
Letters to the Editor:
Written by members of the BC community in response to an article published by The Heights in the last 14 days.
Under 500 words.
Must be signed by an individual or a list of individuals.
Will be fact-checked and edited for clarity in consultation with the writers.
