A lesson on what journalism really does in a democracy

If you think that the lesson of Sage Gilliland’s exposé at Prospect High School is that good journalism helps bend that famous “arc of the moral universe” toward justice, I have something a little different to suggest.

Yes, the PHS sophomore’s research and reporting for the school newspaper The Prospector did lead to a deeper investigation by school administrators and the school board. And, yes, the school board did decide to strip the name of inaugural principal Alvin Kulieke from the high school theater because of his eugenics-related activities in the 1950s.

So, one can well argue that Gilliland’s story identified a moral wrong and the school board responded by taking a stand for contemporary moral values.

But I would raise a somewhat less dogmatic point. I believe that the value of Gilliland’s work was not in how it ended but in what it started.

The elected members of the Northwest Suburban High School District 214 were unanimous in deciding that removing Kulieke’s name from the theater was, in the words of board member Vicki Chung, “the right move to reflect the inclusive environment that we’re trying to build.” They might just have emphatically decided that leaving it there would demonstrate the ability to distinguish between a pioneer administrator’s direct contributions to the school district and personal values of his that today are widely condemned as objectionable.

Either conclusion will have its supporters and its detractors. What is important is that a young woman’s research and reporting brought an issue to light that deserved attention — and got it. Following the publication of Gilliland’s findings, Prospect Principal Greg Minter put together a study committee with members from various departments. That group made a recommendation that was passed up the hierarchy to District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe and the district’s executive council, which further examined the issue before bringing it to the school board.

All along the way, the matter was fodder for discussion throughout the school community and beyond.

That is democracy. That is what journalism at its best promotes. There is, of course, no guarantee that democracy will produce morally correct outcomes. American history alone is replete with morally repugnant social mores and political activities that were — and perhaps are — accommodated if not outright sanctioned through democratic processes. Arcing those mores and activities toward something like justice can happen only if people of good will and public interest discuss them, argue over them and develop responses to them. And they cannot do that discussing, arguing and developing without the thoughtful work of people like Gilliland who lay out issues for them that deserve their attention.

For, the arc of the moral universe does not bend toward justice on its own. It is bent. One may or may not be happy with the result that came from reporting the Kulieke story. But all of us who treasure democratic values, and high school sophomore Sage Gilliland especially, can take pride in the bending that her work enabled.

• Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on X at @JimSlusher. His new book “Conversations, community and the role of the local newspaper” is available at eckhartzpress.com.