To the Wellesley College Community,

We, the editors-in-chief and members of the editorial board of The Wellesley News, are writing to announce significant changes we hope to bring to the News this semester. We are pledging a commitment to quality and journalistic excellence in the next few months.

First, we are proud to announce a weekly column dedicated to cultural events and multiculturalism at Wellesley College. In light of the multicultural space coming to campus, ensuring that the voices of our students of color are heard is incredibly important. In collaboration with the Multicultural Affairs Coordinator, Ananya Ghemawat ’17, this column will feature reporting and information on issues that affect multiculturalism on campus and will also include spotlights on organizations and events focused on students of color. Given the incidents at University of Missouri, and protests on our own campus, our Editorial Board decided it was of the utmost importance to hold a space for students of color in our newspaper to show our solidarity with these movements on our own campus. We also invite the student body to suggest their own columns — online or print — to the Staff.

Second, we will continue and improve upon our commitment to reporting on the issues within our community regarding college government. We will continue to publish Senate Report and President’s Corner with current College Government President Adeline Lee ‘16. We hope to keep our readers updated on the activity and issues that surround our student leadership and our campus.

Furthermore, the News hopes to further engage the Wellesley community in our publications not only through reporting, but also through on-campus events. The News will start sending out a compressed weekly email digest of on-campus news for busy students to stay up-to-date with the campus news. Our paper also plans to hold several on-campus events including a News Trivia Night in collaboration with other organizations.

We, at the News, are hoping to emphasize that the Wellesley News is a student run organization where the issues covered are decided upon and reported on by students. The Wellesley News has no faculty advisor to help prevent a conflict of interest between the students and the administration. While we don’t allow anonymous articles, the Student Press Law Center ensures that even controversial topics may be covered without ramifications to the reporter. Our newspaper is primarily for members of our Wellesley College community and, more importantly, Wellesley College students. We hope to serve you to the best of our abilities by providing interesting, thorough and accurate stories for our college. However, our commitment to quality is only made possible by open dialogue with the members of the community. Letters to Editors can be sent the [email protected] and will be published if they are deemed informative and relevant. Comments on accuracy and quality of writing are also welcomed and can be sent to our email address as well.

For students interested in joining the News, our editorial board is looking for staff writers in all five of our sections: News, Features, Opinions, Arts and Sports. We are open to suggestions for columns and are additionally looking for a political cartoonist. Writing for the News is an excellent way to improve your writing, engage in the campus community and form relationships with other members of the editorial board. Interested parties should contact section editors of the relevant section and attend our open meeting on Thursday, Feb. 11.

The Staff of the News aims to serve the Wellesley community by providing accurate and relevant articles that represent the diversity of thought and identity in our campus. Comprised of students who volunteer, on average, more than ten hours of their free time a week, we hope to do our best in upholding the respect of Wellesley and of our community through journalism. We unequivocally invite your participation and feedback. We wish you the best this semester.

Sharvari Johari ‘17 and Michelle Lee ‘17

Editors-In-Chief