PEAN Names New Board
PEAN, Exeter’s yearbook, recently turned over its board, appointing uppers Janet Chen, Caroline Lu and Ellen Xiang as the new editors-in-chief. They will succeed seniors Keunyoung Ma and Megan Do.
Do said that the PEAN is conventionally led by one or two EICs, making this year’s nomination of three EICs a rarity. She described the decision as “fairly unanimous.” “I conducted most of the interview process. In comparison with what I’ve heard from other years, we came to a decision pretty quickly, which is lucky,” Do said.
The selection progress was rigorous, with previous EICs along with senior board members and advisers voting for their EIC choices with equal weight. After their selection, the new EICs immediately conducted interviews and chose the members off the editorial board. “We chose the other editors based on a three-part application consisting of a written portion, a mock page and an interview,” Chen said. Previous senior board members and advisers felt that the new editors-in-chief were not only competent, but also diverse in their talents. PEAN advisor and mathematics instructor Joseph Wolfson was optimistic about the success of the board in the upcoming year. “I like, trust and admire the new EICs, all of whom I have worked with on PEAN and taught in class,” Wolfson said.
Do highlighted the complementary aspects of the trio. “The new EICs balance each other out because they have such different strengths. They are all very creative people and with all their skill sets combined, they will make a great book. They are also very well organized and professional people which is good,” Do said.
Lower Trishna Mohite, the new layout editor, described their first meeting with the board as informative and helpful. She noted that while the new board has only met together once so far, the transition from the previous board has been smooth. The new PEAN board has already implemented a logistical change and plans for more. For example, they added a new position called the managing photographer, in order to be more efficient with communication. The holder of the new position will be in charge of scheduling photos and communicating between photography and layout sections.
However Lu emphasized that the Board already has challenges to face. “The spring is a time for the new board to see how well it works together when it comes time to make the 2014-2015 book,” she said.
Chen said that she, along with the fellow EICs, are thrilled to spearhead the creation of an important memento of life at Exeter. “This opportunity is really special because the PEAN is something that everyone will look back on for years to come,” Chen said.