September has arrived and with it, the excitement of students getting back into an academic routine. Seniors have begun their last first day of school. Freshmen nervously begin to find their place on campus. The line for the book store is as long as our syllabi and the new faces in our classrooms start to become familiar.
In addition to working toward academic excellence, students also strive to make the most of their short time at the University. Ernest Hemingway once said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”
These words speak volumes for the college experience, and as a senior beginning my last year as an undergraduate I can say that a journey begins with getting involved. While my college career is nearing an end, this year I embark on a new journey with my entire staff as Editor-In-Chief of The Outlook.
Each semester the University sets new goals and works to improve an institution that already achieves excellence, and that is what I intend to do for The Outlook. I have had the privilege of working under three dedicated leaders during my involvement with the newspaper, each who has set a great precedent for the next to follow.
These past Editor-In-Chiefs who I am lucky enough to call my friends and mentors left behind a newspaper that maintained tradition while still progressing in the modern world of journalism. Though they held many of the same values I have seen The Outlook evolve with each new leader.
In my predecessors’ time at the University, they covered important events such as a presidential election, Superstorm Sandy, the inauguration of a new University president, national health concerns and other campus developments.
Now it is my turn to help my staff find the hardest hitting stories on and off campus and cover them honestly and ethically as The Outlook has always done. The newspaper has been a trusted source of information for the University for 80 years and I hope to deliver stories that will best serve students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community. My goal is to inform readers of topics and issues that they may not otherwise think twice about.
Additionally, I want the campus community to respond to us. If there are any pressing issues or information we may not be exposed to that can help the staff inform and educate readers I want any student, administrator or faculty member to feel comfortable reaching out to us. All lines of communication to The Outlook are open.
In the spirit of upholding tradition, one of my larger goals as Editor-In-Chief is to manage a newspaper worthy of the national title that each Editor-In-Chief I have worked under has achieved. Last year, The Outlook was named “Most Outstanding Newspaper” by the American Scholastic Press Association (ASPA) for the second year in a row and the third time in four years.
While winning the title for a third year in a row is unlikely, it is not impossible. I am confident that my staff is up for the challenge and will do their best to make this goal a reality.
While it is more important now than ever to strengthen the quality and readership of print media, The Outlook will continue to advance in the technological realm. This means a more in depth focus on social media outlets and a more accessible online presence. We are currently in the process of updating our website to a more user friendly platform. Through this, I hope to be more interactive with our readers.
With a more aesthetically pleasing website in the works, I want to experiment with new design ideas for our print newspaper. We have a talented group of staff members working with graphics and photography and I believe they will be a real asset to the publication.
The title of Editor-In-Chief comes with great challenges and responsibilities but I have the utmost faith in my staff that we can overcome any obstacle. We have excellence guidance from our advisor, John Morano, and are privileged to have a wonderful support system from faculty and administrators.
Even with the most well thought out goals, an entire year of newspaper production cannot always go as planned. I am excited to see what game changers and opportunities present themselves this year. In the words of Walt Disney, “We keep moving forward, opening new doors and doing new things because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”