Time and time again, I’ve run into the issue of what to cover in “Off Campus,” a subsection of Life. As the section’s editor last semester, I struggled to get coverage other than the occasional festival and the weekly Life After Hours, the section’s roundup of weekend events. This semester, I assumed the role of managing editor and one of my goals was to help evolve the section so that a lack of content was no longer an issue.
Our most popular stories this semester were about the student body, which is odd for a section branded as one that covers news off the quad. The stories about stress management, long distance relationships and leading a balanced life were popular with readers, but the section’s name and brand did not fit them well. Off Campus evolved into something more, so we needed to change our name and image to fit the content our readers wanted. Together with Liz Holmes, the Off Campus editor, and Lara Jakiel, the assistant editor, we considered all types of solutions.
We settled on rebranding Off Campus as Style, a section that will focus on all things culture: festivals, markets, events, galas and even health tips from experts. The new name came from looking into the culture sections of major publications, like The New York Times and Washington Post, and local student newspapers, like Georgetown’s The Hoya and GW’s Hatchet.
By removing the limitations of the name Off Campus, our section can now report on student events on campus that previously did not fit into the section. Now, we can more accurately cover our community.
I hope this new section will be able to grow and flourish. Please reach out with concerns, comments or questions. If you’d like to write for Style, please email me at the address below.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Emily Martin is the outgoing managing editor for Life.
emartin@theeagleonline.com
