This issue, as is tradition at The College Voice, marks the last issue of the year with our current editorial staff. Next year’s editorial board will create our next and final issue of the academic year.
Next week also marks the first and only issue during my time at Conn where I will not be a member of the editorial or business staff.
Weird.
What will I do with my weekend days, and sometimes nights, now?
I still haven’t found the answer to that.
My role at The College Voice gave me insight into the power and privilege of shared governance far more than any other role I’ve had on campus. Being an editorially independent paper affords us a great deal of power, as many faculty members this year have reminded us as an editorial staff.
This is a huge privilege we enjoy. But it is not inherant to our college’s unique Honor Code system and shared governance. All other NESCAC papers are also editorially independent, as are the vast majority of colleges and universities. But it is still one that inspires me.
It is what shared governance at Conn could and should be.
The newspaper’s writers and editors serve as the watchdogs of the campus community because together we control what we should cover and how we should cover it. The paper does have an unofficial advisor, but she has no jurisdiction over our content, and only offers advice at our request.
But being factual is something we take very seriously (aside from some select opinions pieces). It’s a form of respect for the Conn community of which we are part and strive to represent truthfully.
Shared governance here at the newspaper is not forced. It is natural as it should be in all other areas of campus life: based upon respect for and and commitment to serving the community.
This year we pushed our autonomy even further by launching the first editorially independent website for the first time in almost ten years. This allowed us to reach a greater audience of both current students, parents and alumni. It also enabled us to share our perspective with a larger audience of prospective students, other colleges, bloggers and reporters from newspapers.
We have some very real control over how Conn is perceived.
When I was applying to colleges during my senior year of high school, I remember judging colleges based on their student newspapers: what students talk about, how they articulate themselves and their concerns about the school.
Along with reactions to campus events, concerns and controversies, this year The College Voice focused on the college’s relationship with New London, college communication and branding, shared governance, LGBTQ and feminist issues.
I think this year we’ve taken more ownership of our rights and privileges with the articles and topics we chose to focus on, while also establishing credibility for ourselves by only publishing information that can be verified.
Publishing this week’s article on Peter St. John was a cumulation of our work this year as an editorial staff: breaking a story we found to be of significant value to the student body and one we hope will incite conversation about the Honor Code and its role on our campus.
This is Claire, signing off.
