In what observers described as an "epic" Banquet for Herald staff at the swanky Cav restaurant in the Jewelry District, the paper's outgoing leadership toasted a successful year and announced The 122nd Editorial Board Friday night.
Leading next year's board will be Claire Peracchio '13, who will serve as editor-in-chief and president of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Peracchio, a Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., native, showed her grit and resolve as a City & State editor by covering Providence schools and the Rhode Island pension system for a full year without succumbing to clinical depression. As editor-in-chief, Peracchio's first order of business will be an investigative series on the 1981 election for student body president, which she believes was rigged.
Brooklyn native Rebecca Ballhaus '13 will serve as managing editor and vice president of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. A City & State editor, Ballhaus' tenure at the metro desk was distinguished by a noble, but ultimately failed, attempt to orient the section mostly toward Rogue Island Jitney coverage. Ballhaus' plans for The Herald include the introduction of far more comics about Beertato. They will all run on the front page.
Nicole Boucher '13, of Hartford, Conn., will also serve as managing editor. As News editor this spring, Boucher spent the majority of her time conducting pre-dawn Skype interviews with sources on the other side of the globe. Disoriented by the time zone difference, Boucher was compelled to move to Copenhagen, where she has spent the semester undercover on assignment for The Herald. The loud-mouthed Boucher plans to bring the noise to The Herald's placid newsroom.
Anthony Bakshi '13, who hails from Marlboro, N.J., by way of Outer Siberia, will serve as a senior editor. Bakshi put in two semesters as a Sports editor before coming this fall to the News desk, where he directed coverage of President Ruth Simmons' thrilling overtime call to accept the recommendations of the Committee on ROTC and her decision to step down as Brown's captain at the end of this season. In 2012, Bakshi will remove the crust from the pizza at The Herald's weekly staff meetings. He declined to comment for this story.
Natalie Villacorta '13, of McLean, Va., will also serve as senior editor. Villacorta, a senior staff writer, languished for a year at the University of Virginia before realizing that Herald editorships are reserved for Brown students. Her coverage of meditation's effect on women's sexual health has been described as "stimulating." Villacorta will guide The Herald's nascent Science section, using it as a platform to promote Intelligent Design and the Ptolemaic view of the Solar System.
The 122nd Editorial Board announced an abundant crop of leaders for 2012.
Taking up the reins at the News desk next year will be the quadfecta of David Chung '14, Lucy Feldman '14, Greg Jordan-Detamore '14 and Shefali Luthra '14. Chung, who is notoriously disagreeable and hails from Seoul, applied for the position of News editor last year and was Z-listed. Feldman, of Portland, Ore., brought courage and an iron stomach to the public masturbation beat this semester, a role she claims she's been destined for since childhood. Jordan-Detamore, of Philadelphia, doesn't just know every reporting trick in the book but also intends to write a book on reporting tricks. If you live on campus, he knows the dimensions of your room. Hailing from Los Altos, Calif., Luthra, whose dedication to journalism is rivaled only by her dedication to baking, is known to her colleagues as the less evil twin.
Elizabeth "Baby, You Can Drive My" Carr '14 and Kat "In The Hat" Thornton '14 will direct City & State coverage next year. Carr, of St. Louis, will bring the skills and aesthetics of Rory Gilmore to a far better newspaper. Thornton, of Boise, Idaho, will bring both her news sense and her ever-present entourage to the City & State desk.
Aparna Bansal '14, of New Delhi, and Katrina Phillips '13, from all over, will run the Features section. Bansal's planned feature on the fire at Kabob & Curry is going to require countless meals at the Thayer St. restaurant, but she's up to the task. Phillips, who has established contacts within the graveyard and herbalist communities, made her name by exposing a violent Providence mugwort-dealing ring in The Herald's pages.
Sarah Mancone '13, of North Smithfield, and Emma Wohl '14, of Tucson, Ariz., will take over the Arts & Culture section. Mancone, the artsy one, would win the annual Herald Super Smash Brothers Tournament if one were ever held. Wohl, the cultured one, is an expert on both Brown's place in academia and Officer Chuck's life story.
Sports editors Ethan McCoy '14, of Melrose, Mass., and Ashley McDonnell '12, of Cheltenham, Penn., and Assistant Editor Sam Rubinroit '14, of Malibu, Calif., are all sticking around next year. McCoy, who exploited his mother's pottery class connections to get ahead at The Herald, plans to show up even earlier for Happy Hours in 2012. McDonnell will be bringing her game face, which is scarier than any 300-pound lineman. Rubinroit remembers his interviews of Assistant Men's Basketball Coach T.J. Sorrentine more fondly than his interviews of Jerry West, Deion Sanders and Shaquille O'Neal combined.
As design editor and assistant design editor, respectively, Kyle McNamara '14 and Julia Shube '14 will bring their keen eyes for layout to The Herald's pages. McNamara, of Alva, Fla., earned his place as a Herald staff writer at the scene of a bloody accident, a
situation his colleagues deemed fitting. Shube, of Montville, N.J., has developed over the course of a semester the one true mark of a great designer: an insatiable curiosity to find out what's on page one.
The Herald's picture-perfect photography leadership will remain in place next year. Emily Gilbert '14, of Summit, N.J., and Rachel Kaplan '14, of Fairbanks, Alas., will stay on as photo editors, Glenn Lutzky '12, of Ardsley, N.Y., will stay on as assistant photo ed, and Jesse Schwimmer '14 of Montclair, N.J., will stay on as sports photo ed. Schwimmer was asked not to comment for this story.
Olivia Conetta '14, of Roslyn, N.Y., will be next year's copy desk chief. Her colleagues are waiting with bated breath for her to unveil next semester's hairstyle.
Jared Moffat '13, of Jackson, Miss., will take on the role of opinions editor.
The Herald is also proud to announce its newest roster of staff writers: Hannah Abelow'14, Mathias Heller '15, Dan Jeon '14, Hannah Lowentheil '14, Sona Mkrttchian '15, Margaret Nickens '15, Kate Nussenbaum '15, Sophia Seawell '14 and Adam Toobin '15 all made staff writer so far this semester.
Sam Knowles '13 will continue as editor-in-chief of post-, The Herald's sassy weekly magazine. He will not be taking meetings.
Jenny Bloom '12, of Scarsdale, N.Y., will take over as editor-in-chief of BlogDailyHerald, the jewel in the crown of The Herald's burgeoning web empire. Matt Klimerman '13, of New York City, will stay on as the blog's managing editor. On the heels of 2011's "White Out for Diddy" campaign, Bloom and Klimerman are planning to get blackout next Spring Weekend.
The Herald also announced its newest business leaders Friday.
Danielle Marshak '13, of New York City, will move up from finance director to serve as general manager and treasurer of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. She plans to install an elliptical machine in the GM office.
Siena Delisser '13, of Florence, Italy, who served as student group sales director in the spring, will serve as general manager and secretary of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Delisser hopes to bring the Italian penchant for sound business management to The Herald.
Nikki Khadloya '13 will serve as alumni relations director, Julia Kuwahara '14 will serve as sales director, Angel Lee '14 will serves as business development director and Sam Plotner '14 will serve as finance director.
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