We talk a lot about community at this school. Whether it’s the administration’s favorite slogan “community of care,” or finding ways to shift and modify campus community, like Founders week celebrations, community is a buzzword thrown around a lot on this campus. In one of our staff editorials this year, we talked about the need for the University to shift away from the question of “Where can we create community?” to “Where does community already exist?”
I’d like to tell you a little about what community has meant to me.
The Eagle is home to 115 staffers who act in different capacities to keep this organization up and running. We’re made of news reporters with a passion for local news reporting and administration accountability, life staffers who channel their talents into features and coverage of concerts and performances, opinion writers with an argument to share and a voice to do it, sports writers who know college basketball and lacrosse better than anyone else. We’re made of photographers with an eye for capturing small moments at protests or field hockey games and graphic designers who will create a mind blowingly complicated design and jokingly tell you, yes, graphic design is my passion. We’re made of social media editors with a talent for grabbing your attention and copy editors with a keen eye for mistakes.
We’re also a microcosm of the University itself, which is what makes our jobs as reporters and editors so crucial. We come from different backgrounds, participate in different clubs on campus and pursue different interests in our studies. It makes our job as students who report on students so essential because we all have a different perspective to bring to the table.
When we came back on campus this year, we found community in a whole new way. What had existed for years through a Zoom screen now played out center stage on campus. Here at The Eagle, we forged new friendships and bonded over our love for journalism and for this University. I know many of you also found it in new and unexpected ways as well — this year proved that having community, above all, is essential on college campuses.
I am so proud of the work that we have done this year, so proud of our little community at The Eagle. We’ve covered a lot of heavy material this year — hate crimes on campus, student protests and coronavirus decision-making by the University. We strived to keep the student body informed when it came to everyday campus operations.
A couple of other things I’m especially proud of: we launched three new podcasts this year, District of Cinema, Section 202 and Play by Play, and they’ve been publishing consistently throughout the year. We published an investigation on disability accommodations mishandlings — a story that was a year in the making. We uncovered the University’s distribution of counterfeit masks, and our reporting process was later featured in The Washington Post and Washingtonian. We won the best four year newspaper in the College Media Association’s 2022 Apple Awards.
As I reflect on my time at The Eagle and AU, I realize it’s the people, not the stories, that make up this sense of community I’ll miss the most. I have so many “thank you’s” to dole out as I prepare to leave D.C., but there’s a few I want to recognize here:
Thank you to Nina Heller and Skye Witley, who were available for work support and emotional support at pretty much any time of day. I am so grateful to have had the two of you by my side through the most unpredictable of situations this year. Thank you to Carly Johnson, Izzy Fantini, Stella Lynch, Jacob Fishman and Haley Dymek for hours of work making this print edition come to life. Koz, thanks for always keeping me grounded. Your friendship means so much to me. Georgina DiNardo, Sophie Austin and Kelsey Carolan for being some of the biggest helpers in my transition into this role and throughout the entire year. To Spencer Nusbaum, who has been such a loyal and reliable friend. To Pablo Molina Asensi and Ben Morse for always making me laugh. To Dan Papscun and Isabella Goodman, who were some of the first people I felt close to on The Eagle. To Riya Kohli and Kayla Kelly for bringing your visions to our editorial boards and the opinion section. Carly, Eliza Schloss, Izzy Wolff and Grace Newton for hanging out in the office with me every other Wednesday to talk multimedia and social media. Your passion for The Eagle’s online presence is impressive and so needed. To my roommates and family, who gave me clarity and support when I needed it the most. Kimberly Cataudella, Heather Mongilio, Zach Cohen, Lydia Calitri and Abbie Veitch; thank you for both your friendship and advice as alumni. Rod Wilson and professors Amy Eisman and John Watson, thank you for being the best mentors a student journalist could have. I feel lucky to have gotten to work with so many talented people over the course of my four years at The Eagle — too many to fit in this letter.
I can’t wait to see the vision that Nina Heller brings to this organization next year, and for all of you to follow along. Her passion for The Eagle is palpable, and she will no doubt strengthen the community that comes with it. I’m excited to announce my transition to a new role — the #1 fan of The Eagle — and I’ll be anxiously awaiting the next move from a group of reporters who are equally as hungry for what’s to come.
