LTE, Opinion, & Editorial Guidelines

Letters to the Editor should respond directly to content previously published in The Etownian or to address any on campus concerns. Letters should be between 250 to 500 words.

Opinion pieces must be written by members of the Elizabethtown College community (e.g., students, faculty, staff and alumni)and Elizabethtown or Lancaster County residents. Opinion articles should be between 500 to 700 words.

Editorials are articles written by or on behalf of a member of The Etownian’s Editorial Board that gives an opinion on a topical issue. These articles should be between 500 to 700 words.

We reserve the right to edit any submission to be consistent with AP Style.

If we opt to publish your submission, we will contact you directly about the expected publication date. Submissions may be published anonymously if the Editorial Board agrees with the writer that anonymity would be beneficial to the writer.

No offensive, extremist or inflammatory language will be published in the Etownian, nor will we publish content that is considered slander, libel or heresy to a person or public entity. We reserve the right to reject content based on such submissions or remove any content that falls under these categories.

Last Updated October 2025

Generative AI Policy

The Etownian takes pride in producing news for students, by students. To reflect this, we prohibit the use of generative AI, AI chatbots, or AI editing tools that edit entire sentences when producing articles. AI generated images are also prohibited for publication.

If an article or image is sent to The Etownian and is found to be created with or edited with generative AI, AI chatbots, or AI editing tools, we reserve the right to not publish the article and/or image. Writers will receive a warning about AI usage. If a second offense happens, writers will be barred from publication in The Etownian.