Latin School of Chicago

Unlike Evanston Township and the Laboratory School, the Latin School of Chicago lacks a traditional print publication. “The Forum,” Latin’s student-run newspaper, is published online twice a month. The digital paper is private, accessible only by password to students and staff – parents, alumni, and other community members do not have access.

“By giving parents access to ‘The Forum’ we believe it would censor us even more,” Olivia Baker, one of Latin’s four Editors-in-Chief said. “We wouldn’t be able to write about things like sexual assault and teen drinking. Our audience is the students, and we want to write for the students.”

“‘The Forum’ is a place where all kinds of opinions, beliefs, and stories can come about in a safe environment and for students to speak their minds,” Baker said. Baker maintains that criticism and debate are a natural part of the newspaper’s existence.

“The Forum” has largely avoided wide-spread issues of administrative censorship and rather faces removal and questioning on a case-by-case basis. “It has not been a big issue this year,” Baker said. “I feel like everyone’s a lot more open to the things that we’re writing about and a lot of the things we’re talking about in ‘The Forum.’”

Baker and her fellow Editors-in-Chief – Eleanor Pontikes, Lauren Salzman, and Will Slater – seek to foster an environment which embraces the unique online and student oriented nature of “The Forum.” “We want our writers to be uncomfortable but comfortable sharing their views on topical issues,” Baker said. “The backlash that we’ve received has been from certain people on certain issues and it’s not our publication being criticized.”