After the article on Muslim chaplain Fadel Soliman ran in the March 1 issue of The Eagle, the Muslim Student Association held a prayer service in support of Soliman and started a petition asking for the retraction of both the news article and the corresponding editorial. The editorial asked for Soliman to consider distancing himself from the AU community to protect the reputation of the AU Muslim community and asked students to remain cautious in their judgment of Soliman until there was any proof of guilt.
The circulating petition says the editorial was unfair and the news article inaccurate. The Eagle stands by both its editorial and its news story. We take our responsibility to provide the campus community with correct information very seriously. The Eagle staff worked hard on the story and took pains to make sure it was factually correct. To put this into perspective, this story has circulated around our office for over four months and has been fact-checked and cross-checked numerous times to ensure its veracity. We did the same for the article in this issue, even holding it several times to ensure accuracy and fairness. We will share the evidence we obtained by providing it on our Web site.
If there were errors in either piece, The Eagle would appreciate it if they could be pointed out specifically. We will not retract stories based on vague complaints. Any statements proven to be incorrect will be retracted publicly in our pages.
The petition has not yet been received by The Eagle, but when it is, it will be printed on the opinion page with all the signers listed.
If anyone has strong opinions on the matter, The Eagle strongly encourages them to submit opinion pieces. We are happy to print opposing arguments and try hard to be fair to all points of view.
