The Fulcrum would like to address the negative reactions to our April 3 cover story about former University of Ottawa student Cody Boast.
The purpose of the article was to shed light on a troubling series of events that occurred last year, the serious repercussions that followed, and its link to recent events on campus that together illustrate examples of unacceptable behaviour on the part of student officials. We felt there was something to be learned from a situation involving someone who appeared to be a model student on paper, but whose hurtful and criminal actions had real-life consequences for those involved. This juxtaposition formed the basis of the article.
The intention was certainly not to glorify or sympathize with the subject, to downplay or justify his actions, nor to neglect the victims and others involved. This was and remains a highly sensitive topic for many in the U of O community, and a hard one to think about. It was also brought to our attention that the feature contained some factual inaccuracies. The Fulcrum sets a high standard for each publication and in these cases, those standards were not met.
The story was removed from our website after all this was brought to our attention. The Fulcrum does not wish to be the source of resentment among our readers, but rather strives to bring objective, thorough, and thought-provoking journalism to the U of O. We admit that in spite of the intended purpose of the story, it was upsetting to some members of the community, and for that we apologize.
