The Daily Texan is the voice of students on our campus. You may spot a Texan newsstand every morning at your bus stop, see a stack of copies outside of your lecture hall. You may never pick it up, but when you do, it can be a special experience. In it, you can read news about our campus, see friends and acquaintances showcasing their accomplishments and work and find hard hitting opinion coverage about issues relevant to our campus.

This year, we want to make that even better. Starting next Thursday, the Daily Texan will begin the 2015 iteration of the Daily Texan Forum. The forum – which solicits opinions from campus leaders and key players on important issues – aims to broaden our campus’ understanding of important events as they play out on the 40 acres.

Every Thursday, you will see several different columns in the Texan about a variety of issues – education, civil rights on campus, politics, and a variety of subjects related to life on the 40 Acres, followed by an on-campus panel discussion, moderated by Editor-in-Chief Claire Smith. And we are continually striving to make that page even more inclusive and relevant to students. There has never been a time on our campus where inclusive, diverse opinions are more needed than today. Contentious student government votes led by fresh voices are becoming the norm, a strong push for racial justice is making headway on our campus and issues like transgender rights and mental health need more discussion than ever before. The Forum aims to bring some of these issues to light, all while hearing a diverse set of opinions, from students, administrators and community members.

If you believe there’s a topic that the Forum should cover in depth, let us know. And if you believe that your opinion would shed valuable insight, please reach out to Daily Texan staff, or write a letter to the Editor. Now more than ever, our campus will be well served by a selection of opinions which do not embrace the cultural and political norms of the environment we find ourselves in. Our campus needs those voices – so that every time a student, faculty member or community member opens the Daily Texan, they find something which gives them new perspective and showcases the diversity of our University community.

Fountain is a government senior from Pelham, New York.