In my first “letter from the editor” in my first issue as editor-in-chief, I finished it by saying “let’s get this party started.” And what a party it has been!
This past year has been a whirlwind and has given me such an incredible background in leadership, organization and maturity. I have seen my staff grow in wonderful ways whether in quality, quantity or most importantly, in friendship. I have loved leading this paper and most importantly leading a group of my peers that I love so much. Each of them brought something incredible to their roles and I don’t think I could ever thank them enough.
It’s a bittersweet feeling to wrap up my time as editor-in-chief because this position has not been an easy one. There have been crazy weeks and crazy issues, but for all of the insanity that comes with managing a staff of almost 40 students, along with preparing a weekly paper for publication, it has been one of the greatest blessings of my college career and probably my life.
The Quadrangle is one of the most professional publications I’ve ever had the honor of contributing to during my journalism career. This continued to ring true these past two semesters while I’ve led the paper.
In the spring, we published our special issue “The Bronx Issue” along with one of our most successful Triangles to date. We also published a “Quadrangle Investigation” about the chemical engineering department that Stephen Zubrycky and Rose Brennan, my fearless managing editors, worked tirelessly on and eventually won them a Quaddie award. Finally, we said goodbye to the graduating class with a Quadrangle-first: the “Quad 10”, which was Time 100 on a Manhattan College scale.
In the fall, we’ve continued to follow our high standards in hard-hitting news and ethical journalism. Majority of us learned those skills from our former advisor, Tom Callahan. The news of his passing was deeply saddening, but also brought us together in remembrance of one of the greatest journalists any of us will ever know. We continued to write for him and for the good of our college community as we published our fall special issue, “The Tech Issue.” We’ve also spent the majority of this semester covering the upset regarding commencement, which is a perfect example of why The Quadrangle is so dedicated to being a voice of and for the student body.
As I pass the torch to Megan Dreher, the next editor-in-chief, I am thrilled to see the continued excellence of this newspaper thrive under her leadership. There is not a doubt in my mind that she will do a great job.
It has been a pleasure serving this paper and campus as editor-in-chief. I will look back on this year and remember how proud I am to be a Jasper. Thank you again to my staff and to faculty, staff and administrators for the support.
That’s the news and I’m sticking to it.
Sincerely,
Taylor Brethauer
Editor-in-Chief