On Feb. 25, University of Minnesota student Mitchell Hoenig died from complications related to alcohol poisoning. Hoenig had been involved in sorority parties that weekend according to Minnesota Daily, the university’s student-run news site. He was underage. It’s the kind of tragedy that brings entire campuses into mourning a young life that held so much potential — especially disturbing since death related to alcohol poisoning is preventable.

But what is even more disturbing is the fact that university administrators opposed the Minnesota Daily’s decision to publish this story, which was posted on April 5. “It is disappointing that the Minnesota Daily is choosing to publish a story against the wishes of the Hoenig family, who we continue to support and work with as they grieve,” U of M Dean of Students Maggie Towle wrote, as quoted in Minnesota Daily’s article.

Instead of hiding this story, the Minnesota Daily chose to report it, informing their student body of what truly happened the night of Hoenig’s death. “We must be willing to look past the pain and learn from an ordinary night that went so wrong,” Minnesota Daily’s editorial states on why they chose to publish, posted April 7. “Mitchell’s story shows tragedy can happen to anyone. We cannot hide from that. We need to address it and learn from it.”

The editorial expressed the difficulty and pain that went into the team’s decision. They didn’t take this lightly—instead, it was an act of courage. It’s all too easy to hide behind the pain of a tragedy instead of learning from it and moving forward. Whether at the University of Minnesota, or on any other campus, students have the right to know about the issues directly impacting their community. They can’t look for ways to move forward if their own campus journalists can’t pursue and share the truth. The Minnesota Daily’s editorial board chose painful honesty over silent complacency, and for that, I commend them.

This story is not the first of an alcohol-related death on a college campus, and unfortunately, it won’t be the last. It’s a reminder that we all badly need. The National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates that 1,825 college students (ages 18-24) die every year from alcohol-related injuries. That’s 35 students per weekend of partying. Stories like this are necessary to keep us from upholding that kind of tragic status quo.

It’s also an opportunity to raise questions about college drinking culture more generally. How often do we hear people telling stories of how they blacked out this past weekend, as if it’s a badge of honor? Why do we tolerate college students saying things like, “I’m going to drink to forget this test I failed,” when drinking with the goal of avoiding problems is a criterion for alcohol use disorder? None of us drink with the goal of getting alcohol poisoning and risking death, but tragedies like this force us to take a second look at the way our college communities use alcohol. As the Minnesota Daily editorial staff is well aware, by pretending these preventable tragedies didn’t happen, we are inadvertently saying, “This is just how things are, and we can’t change them.” I doubt this is what any of us want, whether we are in support of or opposed to the publishing of the article.

I applaud the Minnesota Daily’s editorial staff for their decision to do what they felt was right. In today’s political climate, it is more important than ever that journalists and readers work together to build trust—and this includes sharing stories that, while they are painful, help us move forward as a community.

Anne Kopas can be reached at anne.kopas@stthomas.edu.