Western Kentucky University Herald Editorial Board

November 15, 2021

"WKU is a public institution, so it should only make sense that it would operate as such. However, in light of recent discoveries, it appears that it does not.

. . .

"WKU should have prevented the committee members from signing non-disclosure agreements, not only because they were unethical and potentially illegal in this scenario, but as a due diligence to their status as a public university.

"We get the fact that the committee wanted to operate in an environment without pressure, but with the gravity of the matters that they were dealing with, the public deserved to know the contents of their discussions.

"As a result of their decision to sign NDA's, we will never know the full scope of the Naming and Symbols Task Force, a committee that probably meant a lot to the underrepresented population of WKU.

"NDA's should not be present in any committee formed by a public university, no matter what the purpose of the group is. The Naming and Symbols Task Force had an immense amount of gravity in its work but the principle should still apply to any group the university forms.

"Therefore we pose the question: Why is a public university allowing for the signage of non-disclosure agreements in committee's dealing with public affairs?"