As an Odyssey creator, I can say that Lorena Roberts is shaming our whole community. I really hope that those reading this do not base their opinions on Odyssey over this one bad example.
Because of her harmful articles, she is convincing people that The Odyssey is a place where people rant online about all the things they hate and talk about stereotypes that they assume are always right.
THIS IS WRONG.
The Odyssey is a wonderful platform for millennials to share our opinions, write what we feel passionate about, and share interesting advice and information that we find useful to the rest of our generation. This is a wonderful community to be a part of.
With this being said, Lorena Roberts, editor in chief for Odyssey's community of University of Tennessee, is entitled to her own opinion; however, she is abusing her right. There is no reason why someone should want to post harmful articles online about the people that they attend college with. Articles such as: Why I Didn't Rush, 8 Reasons Why I'll Never Date A Frat Boy, and I'm Sour About Tennessee Athletics are prime examples of bad Odyssey behavior. You are entitled to your opinions, but what happened to respect? Did Lorena forget the golden rule? How can she expect people to respect her and treat her fairly when she stereotypes people on a daily basis and publicly shames them on the internet?
In Lorena's article, Having An Opinion Isn't Wrong, she writes; "What do you think? Do you think we tiptoe around subjects? Do you think this campus just pretends to be 'one Tennessee' in Neyland, and then on Mondays we go back to hating each other?" Newsflash Lorena: It seems that you're the one who is hating her classmates. Your rude articles are showing nothing but hate to the people on your campus that are different than you.
In Lorena's article, Bash My Band All You Want, she writes: "So, the answer is no... I wouldn't care if you wrote an article bashing marching band. You were never in it, so I shouldn't expect you to understand." This is such a hypocritical statement. She is saying that she wouldn't mind an article being published that bashes what she is passionate about because the writer probably wouldn't have been in the marching band to begin with. Lorena has never been in a sorority, never been in a fraternity, and never been a University of Tennessee athlete. So what gives her the right to judge those that were in these groups? She literally said that she shouldn't know anything about a group she was never a part of.
Lorena's articles are sad, rude, hypocritical, and just down right mean. I can't imagine that anyone would want to be a part of UT Knoxville's Odyssey team when their editor in chief is so judgmental. She is demonstrating a bad example for Odyssey writers, the UT Honors College, and whatever other organizations she may be a part of it. It sickens me that people would want to use this wonderful opportunity and platform to publicly shame other individuals.
And for the record, Lorena, you forgot to mention in your article, I'm Sour About Tennessee Athletics, that Joshua Dobbs is an aerospace engineering major, and was named one of the 14 smartest college football players by NFL.com in 2014. And if you think everyone should respect diversity in their communities, why do you write terrible and harmful things about people who are different than you?
I am not a member of a sorority, fraternity, or an athlete at my university. Lorena's articles still seem offensive to me. I am a member of Odyssey, and I am proud to be one. Please don't judge the mainly kind, respectful, and passionate individuals that write for this platform based on one disrespectful writer.
