Quaker Valley’s yearbook causes stir

‘Offensive quotes’ lead to one refund

Quotations attributed to Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Quaker Valley High School yearbook have led district officials to offer an apology and refunds to students who were offended by the quotes.

So far only one person has requested a refund, district spokeswoman Angela Yingling said Friday. She also said just one person — a parent — had complained about the quotes.

On Wednesday, superintendent Heidi Ondek, high school principal Deborah Riccobelli and yearbook sponsor and English teacher Tamira Rosa sent an email to parents about the yearbook oversight.

“Though the content of the quotes was reviewed thoroughly, the attributions clearly were not,” they wrote. “This is a regrettable mistake, as the school district would never knowingly condone this messaging in a schoolsponsored publication.”

The quotes in question included:

“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, so why would we let them have ideas?” — Soviet dictator Stalin.

“Words build bridges into unexplored regions.” — Nazi leader Hitler.

“Be just: the unjust never prosper. Be valiant. Keep your word, even to your enemies,” Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi.

Senior students were asked to submit personal quotes that would be placed next to their baby pictures and senior portraits in the yearbook, Ms. Yingling said. Two students submitted the quotes in question, with one submitting the Hitler quote and the other submitting the Stalin and alBaghdadi quotes.

Beneath the quotes are the names of the men who spoke them.

Ms. Yingling was unable say how these “offensive quotes” — as the school district’s email described them — made it past the editing process, nor could she say how the district will monitor the yearbook in the future.

Students can turn their yearbooks in at the high school’s main office for a full refund or they can get “redaction stickers ... to cover up any offensive quotations,” the district said.

The base cost of the yearbook is $69, but if a student wanted an engraved cover, the price is more than $100. About 360 yearbooks were handed out Monday, Ms. Yingling said.

The district would not say whether anyone would be disciplined for the inclusion of the quotes.