This final production represents the farewell issue of the dedicated staff members of The Lawrentian 2013-14 Editorial Board. These last 12 pages are the ultimate product of lessons learned over the course of countless Wednesday nights filled with frantic editors, faulty printers and late-night pizza orders to cure it all. When we first began three terms ago, few could have predicted how our young staff would stamp its own mark on over a century of news coverage and opinion articles. As I step down to invite seasoned editor Emily Zawacki into the highly deserved position of Editor-in-Chief, I am humbled by how my fellow colleagues have been able to shift The Lawrentian from a dependable publication into a weekly representation of the collaborative spirit across campus that ultimately fills this newspaper’s pages.
Some of the goals we’ve achieved are obvious: Incorporating writers’ headshots, maintaining typographic unity and attaining overall cohesion in design. New features like “Mystery Athlete of the Week” and “Question Mark” strove to engage and expand readership. News and Features investigated controversial opinions surrounding vandalism in Main Hall, tuition hikes and the first Conservatory concert postponement in remembered history. Sports reporters re-counted play-by-plays from the bleachers of varsity basketball games and intramural matches. In Arts and Entertainment, we’ve spotlighted the creative minds that open our campus galleries and fill concert halls with the highest notes of a liberal arts education. Finally, bold editorials consistently generated discussion, in person and online, sparking reactions from our own peers and renowned young-adult writers.
Other points of pride are less tangible. Watching a new photographer see his work on the front page for the first time. Editors crowding around a single computer to debate the merits of a dropped conjunction in a headline. Seeing the sunrise as we walk back home, feeling confident about the issue Lawrentians will read in Andrew Commons in a little over 36 hours. As we transition to a new Editorial Board, I have the great fortune of seeing writers I first recruited as News Editor take on the responsibility of ensuring students have a strong platform to continue being agents of change on this campus. So I challenge the new staff to take this newspaper to new heights. Investigate the unknown. Uncover the unconventional. Break from tradition. The pinnacle of The Lawrentian has yet to be reached.
Fanny Lau
Editor-in-Chief, 2013-14