For many, the sense of community at Wake Forest was a large factor in choosing to attend this university. The community is more, however, than just the student body.

Our community includes students, faculty and staff, the Editorial Board believes that we must respect each member of these groups.

On Nov. 1, a student under the influence of alcohol broke a window at Zick’s after being calmly informed by an employee that it was closed before fleeing.

Thankfully, the Zick’s employee did not suffer severe injuries, but his body was covered in glass.

On Nov. 6, Student Government released a statement condemning the incident. In their statement, they said that “…we must protect and represent those who work tirelessly, and often late into the night, to keep this campus functioning.”

The Editorial Board agrees with and supports Student Government’s statement.

We believe that this incident is inexcusable and reflects poorly on the entire Wake Forest community.

Workers in Benson, Zick’s, Subway and other locations on campus are an integral part of our community, and they should be treated with no less respect that we would expect as students.

They work hard to feed students at all hours of the day and night, and they always greet students with a smile. Last year, there was a similar incident in Subway. An intoxicated student shouted racial slurs at one of the workers. It is deplorable that a student would treat a member of our community in that fashion.

Workers, especially at Subway, have the difficult job of dealing with intoxicated students in the middle of the night.

We cannot allow ourselves to forget their hard work and their valued place in our community.

Alcohol is no excuse for this type of disrespect.

Even under the influence of alcohol, we are responsible for our actions and for representing Wake Forest.

Members of the university should strive to live up to our motto, “Pro Humanitate” at all times.

Though one member of the Wake Forest community made a poor, disrespectful choice at Zick’s, we would like to make clear that this one isolated event in no way represents the rest of the community. We believe that students should value and appreciate all that the campus staff does for us, and this event does not reflect the entire student body.

Serving food is not all that campus workers do for us. Every day at the Pit, workers swipe us in with a smile and sincerely ask about our day.

They care about the students and, even on a day filled with tests and papers, never fail to make our days a little bit brighter.

We encourage students to go out of their way to show the employees who work so hard for us how much we care.

Let’s show our staff that incidents such as the one at Zick’s do not represent the entire community and that we appreciate their smiles, greetings, conversation and work every single day.