Today’s paper marks our 121st and final issue as The Herald’s 124th Editorial Board. For the six of us, this issue signifies the end of three and a half years spent working on the paper alongside a dedicated editorial and business staff, to whom we owe an endless debt of gratitude. But we are not alone in contributing to the paper — as members of the Brown community, everyone on campus has added to The Herald, whether as sources in our stories, readers of the paper or commenters on our website. And we thank you for this participation, for without it there would be no paper.
At The Herald this year, we have strived to inspire and project critical discussions by pushing forward discourse on issues including the strategic plan, sexual assault policy, campus racism, financial aid and academic integrity amid major administrative turnover. We have had the tough but important responsibility of covering this community’s tragedies over the past year, including the deaths of Dana Dourdeville ’15, Mark St. Louis ’15, Stephen Rodrigues, Sara Overstreet ’16 and several faculty and staff members, as well as a murder.
Alongside these somber topics, we have enjoyed the pleasure of covering exciting campus events, joining the community in celebration of Brown’s 250th anniversary and cheering on the triumphs of the women’s rugby and men’s water polo teams from the newsroom. We have had a chance to explore the rich culture of Providence’s Cape Verdean community and highlight the accomplishments of student theater and film. And in a critical midterm election year, we had the unique pleasure of covering local politics, with all of its colorful candidates and unexpected twists.
In an increasingly fractionalized landscape of news sources, we are grateful that you have continued to turn to The Herald for information about Brown and the people within and around it. Striving to produce objective, rigorous journalism can sometimes feel like a quixotic quest in a world dominated by sound bites and partisan commentary. But we have kept pursuing it, persistent in the belief that reporting done right is among the best tools at a community’s disposal for holding the powerful accountable and uniting people through storytelling. Truth can be a moving target, but it is worth taking aim nonetheless.
These are lofty goals, and we have sometimes fallen short of them: Such is the inherent nature of a daily newspaper and the fallible people who create it. But we hope that we have informed, enlightened or entertained you on a consistent basis.
We are humbled every day by the continued attention of our readers, and we hope that you continue to engage with The Herald next semester as the 125th Editorial Board takes the reins for what will be a critical year for this paper. While we are proud of what we have accomplished, The Herald still has work to do. The new board has exciting plans to increase the paper’s digital presence through more innovative and interactive features, as well as new video and social media initiatives.
Thank you for being such engaged and active readers over the past year. As we retire and join the ranks of Herald consumers, we can’t wait to see where the paper goes next.
The Herald will resume print publication Jan. 20. Check thebdh.org for updates in the interim.
Editors’ notes are written by The Herald’s 124th Editorial Board: Eli Okun ’15, Mathias Heller ’15, Sona Mkrttchian ’15, Madeline Berg ’15, Katherine Cusumano ’15 and Kate Nussenbaum ’15.
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