This weekend, I came back from home to find pages of The Stute torn and stomped on outside my room, scattered across the hallway. I am the Resident Assistant for the floor, so I had to follow my protocol, but as the Editor-in-Chief of The Stute, it stung to see our work treated that way.
As I reflect on the semester, I have realized that, aside from those in the organization, no one recognizes the work we put in each week. I could sit here and teach you our Stute timeline, but instead, I urge you to read one of my first editorials, “How are you?” In this, I go through the production week in the eyes of the Editor-in-Chief.
Instead, right now, I want to bring to light everyone behind the scenes. We are a team of 55+ students.
To my writers, thank you for filling our pages every week. You are the heart of our newspaper, and I appreciate every single one of you taking the time to produce one, sometimes more, 500-700-word articles. Your passion for your sections is seen through every word on every page. I cannot fathom how you all continue to write and submit articles in less than five days while also battling your academic and personal lives.
To my copy editors, you are a small but mighty team. It is because of you that the writers are able to express themselves in a manner that is understood by all. Reading and closely editing 25-plus articles each week is no easy feat. And yet, you all do it with ease. You put my copywriting skills to shame and teach me something new each week.
To my editors, thank you for being involved in each issue in a larger capacity. I cannot express the amount of gratitude I have for you all for confirming that your writers submit their articles, putting out fires, fact-checking/copyediting content, photographing, pitching articles, and overall making The Stute feel welcoming to the new Stuters on our team. By consistently attending our events on Tuesday nights and our staff meetings on Wednesdays, you have become the most recognizable faces of this organization.
To my e-board, thank you for taking care of everything in between. You plan our events, maintain our website, book rooms, and turn ideas into reality. Simply put, you make this organization run. Without your enthusiasm, we would have no writers, photographers, or editors. You show the school that there is more to The Stute than a newspaper; there is a family of passionate and creative people behind every thought, word, and event.
To anyone who has reached out to me outside the organization, thank you for trusting us to relay the information you want written about in an unbiased and cohesive manner. Your tips, op-eds, or thoughts fuel our motto. You remind us of why we do it each week.
To anyone who picks up our newspaper, this is your reminder that there is a team of 55-plus people behind each issue. We even plan summer events during Alumni Weekend and Stute Weekend to keep the organization active.
I saw those newspapers stomped on and thought: It took Claire and Ime 12 hours to digitally design that, and five seconds for them to rip it apart. But, it is so much more than two people’s work that was thrown around.
The semester comes to a close, but The Stute does not. Even when you don’t see an issue on the rack, we are still writing, editing, planning, and showing up.
Good luck on finals, Stuters! And thank you for being a part of the 26 issues this year.
