In February I wrote a Letter to the Editor about the elections and Phil Varney for which I would like to publicly apologize. In the midst of a heated political and interpersonal conflict between myself and Phil, I wrote a letter to the paper dissecting and critiquing one of his political stances. One of the critiques I had related to a non-traditional and multicultural student issue. In an effort to call out this issue, while still remaining anonymous, I created an identity to use for publication purposes. I posed as an African-American student in the hopes that it would carry more weight in the paper and bring more attention to the multicultural issues I was writing about. This was obviously a terrible idea and I fully and humbly apologize for doing so. I did this without forethought about the possibility of hurting my African-American peers, Phil’s reputation, or the integrity of the UVU Review. Again, I apologize and ask for forgiveness from those I have hurt or offended by my actions.

I apologize to my African-American peers. I apologize to Phil Varney. And I apologize to the UVU Review. I was wrong, and I am so sorry.

Sincerely,

Blake Oakey

Here is a link to the previous letter