Emily Jashinsky is the president of Young America’s Foundation at GW.

I’m writing in response to the blog post, “Young America’s Foundation’s 9/11 display provides a moment to reflect,” by Sarah Blugis (Sept. 11, online).

First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank Blugis, as well as The Hatchet, for publishing the piece last Thursday. As the president of GW’s chapter of Young America’s Foundation, I’m hyper-aware that my conservative peers and I are in the ideological minority on this campus, so it meant a lot to me that a classmate set aside her political beliefs for a moment and thanked us for displaying the flags in Kogan Plaza.

That being said, I was disappointed when I discovered a large portion of the piece is actually not very complimentary at all.

The first three paragraphs essentially serve to recap all of the things the author feels are wrong with YAF. In fact, the article repeatedly makes reference to nonpartisanship, but in the same breath, manages to insult our work on this campus. It kind of feels like a big back-handed compliment.

This excerpt is a good example of what I’m talking about: “YAF’s 9/11 Never Forget Project is non-partisan and non-political. Though I may scoff at the conservative organization’s displays for the rest of the year, what it does on this day is important.”

I get what the piece was trying to do. But at the same time, I just don’t believe comments like the one above about “scoffing” at us were warranted in an article about our 9/11 memorial.

Members of YAF and other right-leaning organizations on campus consciously made a decision to attend a school where we would be in the political minority. We’re smart enough to expect that most students don’t really support our mission. And, as you can imagine, we’re actually very used to being mocked by our classmates and professors.

Believe me – I understand that most GW students disagree with our programming decisions. Negative coverage of our events is mostly old hat, and usually we’re more amused than upset by our detractors. But this just didn’t feel like the right occasion to be insulted.

I would have understood a small reference to people’s disagreements with us. Unfortunately, however, the author’s negative views have almost a constant presence throughout the article, even where the piece is trying to be thankful.

I want to reiterate my appreciation for the kind words that were directed toward our efforts in displaying the flags last Thursday. But I have to admit that, to me, the column seems like one big missed opportunity for real nonpartisanship.