Brandes, Choi and Yeung to Lead 142

Following this issue, The Exonian will transition from its 141st to 142nd Editorial Board. Following a week of deliberation, the 141st Board, in conjunction with advisers and English Instructors Erica Lazure and Ellee Dean, appointed uppers Anne Brandes, Erin Choi and Felix Yeung as Editor-in-Chief, Director of Writing and Managing Editor, respectively.

To select the most diverse, complementary and dedicated group of editors, the departing board devised a comprehensive application to review each writer’s strengths, ambitions and flexibility in the newsroom. Unlike last year, editorship was open to lowers due to a shortfall of upper writers.

After announcing the new leadership, outgoing editors met with their successors to impart advice, brainstorm article ideas and discuss upcoming plans and goals.

Brandes emphasized that 142nd’s overarching goal is to make The Exonian a more accessible and far-reaching publication. 

“The three areas of improvement we have identified are writer’s retention, diversity in the newsroom and collaboration between the three boards,” she said. “We have a lot of ambitious goals, but with Executive Board members like Erin and Felix who are so motivated, passionate and experienced, I think we can realize a lot of them.”

Choi discussed the importance of writer’s retention in the quantity and quality of articles. “I think something we struggled with is recruiting more people to join us and then having them stay. It can be difficult to write for The Exonian,” Choi said. “What I want to do is to make everyone’s life as easy as possible.”

Lower Daniel Chen, an incoming News Editor, supported a similar initiative to change the culture of the publication to prevent overworking. “People adopted an imbalanced work approach,” he said, “My goal is to make writers feel like they’re enjoying writing articles and not stressed about deadlines.”

Yeung expressed a similar commitment to recruiting new writers and working with returning ones. “I think our writers are crucial. We want more writers. We want as many writers as we can. Anyone who hasn’t written, just write—write for any section. It will change your experience at—and perception of—the Academy,” he said. “I want to keep working with our writers, elevating their skills and strengthening their commitment to The Exonian.

In addition, Choi shared the Executive Board’s plans to upgrade the visual elements of The Exonian. “We want to further integrate photography, art and layout into the way we run things,” Choi said. “When you pick up a paper, you won’t just see text … All these different things will tell the story together.”

Yeung echoed Choi’s sentiments, focusing specifically on The Exonian’s website. “We want a more modern look—a website whose caliber matches that of our writing,” he said.

In addition to improving the paper’s graphics, the 142nd Board hopes to diversify its  writer pool. “I would like to see more diversity, different people, different backgrounds,”  Opinions Editor Dennis Kostakoglu Aydin said. “I would also like for everyone to be able to give their opinions and throw out their ideas because if you’re going to have a good conversation, you need to have a wide variety of opinions.”

The Exonian’s 142nd Board will also be instituting a new role, Operations Manager, to coordinate with the Editorial, Business, and Digital Boards. According to Brandes, upper Maegan Paul will be assuming this position and will “sit in on all meetings, report to the editorial Executive Board and talk to us about how everything going.”

Paul expressed her looking forward to this brand new development. “The [142nd Board] really wants to change the way the paper is run, what it looks like and who feels like they’re part of it,” she said. The outgoing board looked forward to see the result of this coordinated strategy. “The Editorial, Web and Business Boards will really coalesce and work together to become a stronger team,” News Editor Sam Weil said. “They will prioritize The Exonian and make the paper the best they can.”

These different initiatives, perspectives and skill sets were pivotal in choosing the board, senior and departing Editor-in-Chief Suan Lee said. “The new Executive Board members are all incredibly dedicated, experienced and thoughtful individuals, which are all very necessary qualities. Together, they really complement each other in skill set and area of expertise,” she said.

The new board’s entrance ends the 141st Board’s year of close relationships and late nights in the newsroom. “In these last few days, I’ve talked a lot with my fellow editors about how our own board turnover seems like it happened just yesterday,” senior and departing News Editor Angele Yang said. “Looking back, we’ve grown so much together, as individuals and as a team, learning about each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I’m so proud of how much time we dedicated to the paper, how we accomplished so many of the goals we set out to do since the beginning of our tenure and how we published extensive, hard-hitting articles that ultimately benefited the community.”

Dean also lauded the 141st board’s drive and initiative. “I’m thankful to have been a part of their discussions—every issue inspired them to make the paper, meaning both the product and the process, even better,” she said

Throughout their tenure, the 141st Board has found a love for pickle chips, hosted dance videos and often stayed back in the newsroom late enough to be escorted back by Campus Safety. “Every week we have a tradition called cornucopia, when Ms. Lazure or Ms. Dean would bring in a basket of food at 2:00p.m.,” outgoing Managing Editor Mai Hoang recalled.

Lee voiced heartfelt gratitude for the 141st Board. “I have a lot of pride and gratitude for what the 141st Board has accomplished this year. At the beginning of our tenure, we resolved not only to do justice to The Exonian’s 140 years-long legacy, but to improve the paper and leave it in even stronger shape than when we found it,” she said. “I have great faith that the new board will succeed in doing the same.”

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