As soon as I heard about it, I knew we’d made a grave mistake.

Until Monday afternoon, though, I had no idea how grave that mistake was.

The Iowa State Daily receives anywhere from 10 to 15 submissions to its Just Sayin’ pool each day. On Feb. 21, two of the nine we publish in print each day contained the word “squintey.”

Once selected, the “Just Sayin’s” move on to a designer who places them on the page. Once the page is done, it’s checked for technical errors. If there aren’t any technical errors, it goes to the press.

The individual who selected those for publication mistook the word for a central-Iowa colloquialism for ground squirrels — more popularly referred to as “squinny.” No one came in behind to catch the error in judgment.

Since that day, we’ve heard from countless students, faculty and staff that we so obviously offended with the word that can be read as a racial slur.

Monday, I and others from the Daily met with 14 students and Vice President of Student Affairs Tom Hill, all of whom were greatly concerned with not only the Just Sayin’ situation, but other incidences of ethnic discrimination and disrespect.

Voices quivered, heartbreaking stories were told and it became obvious that this Iowa State community that we all call home does not feel at home to everyone in it.

There’s exclusion, harassment and widespread stereotyping.

It was heartbreaking to hear that some among us make members of our community feel like outsiders.

The Daily’s mission says it seeks to “empower students to inform, educate and engage their community.”

When the Iowa State Daily acted as a medium for racism and derogatory remarks, the very behavior that incites these heartbreaking reactions — on this and any other occasion — it had failed its readers and its community.

To anyone we’ve offended — hell, to any we haven’t — we at the Iowa State Daily are sorry for our mistake.

Obviously, our apology does nothing to erase the damage we’ve already done.

We will do everything in our power to ensure that the Daily is never again the venue for such remarks. From this day on, we’ll work tirelessly to increase awareness of diversity and equality on the ISU campus, an area we’ve not done enough with in the past.

Despite the good intentions of some, the nefarious behaviors of a few have led the Daily to the first step of many to come in its commitment to making our community more welcoming to all: eliminating Just Sayin’s and shutting down affiliated websites and mobile apps.

There will be good to come of this.

Because of this error in judgment, otherwise-ignored but very important issues — racism and discrimination — have come to the forefront of the conversation on campus.

We hope change comes because of it.

It’s time for the offended to step up. Hill told the 16 students in the room he wants to hear of any and every offense against students. He wants us to change the world we live in. His office is at 2350 Beardshear. His office number is 294-1909.

We at the Daily also would like to hear your stories and tell them to the ISU community. You can reach me at [email protected] and the newsroom phone number is 294-2003.

Now that the conversation has started, there aren’t any more excuses.

It will be hard. It will take courage, particularly by those with a story to tell.

It’s time for students to change the world.