Some of you older ducks may have noticed great changes in The Stute during the past few years, but the freshmen are lucky enough to only know a quality campus newspaper – what we have internally named “Nu Stute.” I would like to thank a lot of people who built up this organization, especially because they did it by creating a positive atmosphere for growing younger members. I hope I can continue building where they left off, one column at a time.
If you haven’t caught on yet, The Stute had executive board elections this past Tuesday! Some of you might remember me from the “Mind of a Freshman” column last year, and I am so excited to be back at it again. I literally have butterflies in my stomach. 665 days ago, I came to The Stute’s Freshman Weekend and fell in love with every part of this organization. It has brought me so much happiness, a “Stute family,” a second home. I hope that, as 113th Editor-in-Chief of The Stute, I can give back to this club as much as I have gained.
The first person I need to thank is Joseph A. Brosnan. Many of you might recognize the name – he’s a proud civil engineer, anime nerd, and outspoken critic of all Stevens things. But I appreciate Joe so much. He welcomed me onto The Stute staff and taught me the ropes. I knew that I could get a very honest and thorough (and long) answer from Joe, for even yes-or-no questions. He let me take on new initiatives like being Photo Editor and trusted me to layout pages. Having his support meant a lot to me. Believing in the younger members is something that, I’ve heard, was totally unheard of for “The Old Stute.” His spirit changed the dynamics of the organization in a really great way, and started getting us out of “the hole.”
The second person I need to thank is Frankie Guarini. I remember the last day of Stute Weekend when we rushed to finish the paper and you were so appreciative that I stayed to work on it. I just really enjoyed what I was doing. I am so happy that I stuck around to work with him for so many Tuesday and Thursday nights. I have looked up to him so much – as a Stute mentor and a friend. The amount of visible change he brought was an incredible accomplishment. Frankie questioned all traditions of “The Old Stute” so that “Nu Stute” was born tabula rasa (I know he loves Latin, haha). He really knew what he was doing and brought the quality of The Stute to the best it’s ever been. By encouraging younger members to try out a different type of article, page layout, or new internal system, he grew contributors into strong members. He got us above ground, a serious job well done, while keeping the atmosphere light and fun with his pro wrestling jokes.
I also need to thank the rest of the previous executive board for spearheading their own improvements. Dennis Stewart has taken care of all of the computer improvements, which doesn’t include his serving as Business Manager, having a column, and actively contributing to The Stute since his freshman year. I am completely tech-clueless so this is a bid deal that The Stute has taken advantage of technology and made office improvements so that we could better work on the paper. Olivia Schreiber has been a dedicated writer, Outreach Chair, and has stepped up whenever needed to help out. She has always been so reliable, and a great role model for the younger members. I need to send a special thank you to Chris Chiu, who was Layout Editor and is now Business Manager. If Chris wasn’t returning to the executive board, I would be really alone and entering my term in a fearful and stressed mindset. I am so thankful to have another experienced member by my side. All of the other members who have stuck around to keep building up The Stute deserve to know that they’re really appreciated. Having a bigger staff makes the incredible amount of work each week just so much easier to complete. I thank you guys for staying around.
Lastly, I need to send a special thank you to all of the newest members of The Stute. Phil Fishbein, Tarik Kdiry, and David Ovsiew are three freshmen we welcomed onto the new executive board Tuesday. I know that that I’m going to overwhelm them with information the next few weeks, but it’ll be a good challenge. I hope all of the other ducklings stick around too because The Stute is only going to keep on building up as they grow. I know that I will make them work really hard, but I promise that it will all be worth it. The hole has been filled, the real foundation has been laid, and now we are going to keep building up.
