For as early as The Wichitan has existed, the newspaper has included columns. A column is a reflection of the author’s opinion on a specific topic and can be written by Wichitan staff, MSU Texas students or anyone who sends one to [email protected]. The Wichitan will publish any column submitted as long as it does not promote hate, violence or baseless conspiracy.

The Wichitan staff possess no no political agenda that influences the decision on which columns to post. The Wichitan as a media organization prioritizes free speech, whether members of the staff agree with the content of the column or not. Columns over topics ranging from “breaking up the US” to “teaching the real history of Thanksgiving” to “you should take late-night drives to Walmart” have been published.

Columns are not required to include citations, multiple sources, quotes or any area of expertise over their topic, which is why each column comes with a warning that the article the reader is about to read is the opinion of solely the author. Columns are not the same as feature articles, which still require the appropriate sources and fact-checking even if they contain more of the author’s voice. Readers should always fact-check everything they read, but they can rest assure that any non-column article posted by The Wichitan has been properly researched and are factual.

While many recently posted columns have been posted by The Wichitan staff, the newspaper is always looking to hear from members of the MSU community and beyond.