Dear readers,

I hope you enjoy the Record’s first issue of 2022! While we published news on COVID-19 policies and updates over winter break and Winter Study, this issue marks our return to our full breadth of reporting.

We will continue to report on COVID this semester, and we aim to keep the community informed on policy changes, case counts, and student experiences. The pandemic is not over, and to serve this community is to report in a way that acknowledges the loss, pain, and isolation of the past two years.

However, we will not let the urgency of COVID reporting overshadow our other pieces and priorities — from investigations into College history, to editorials pushing for campus policy changes, to features on ways that students are working to find joy during the winter.

The Record seeks to inform, but also to hold truth to power, to tell overlooked stories, and to build community at the College. If we have learned anything over the past two years, it is that the pandemic has exacerbated the effects of historical injustice and systemic inequities. As a result, reporting that represents marginalized communities and their experiences is all the more essential.

In pursuit of this goal, we have made changes, which include expanding our Race, Privilege, and Identity (RPI) and Investigations sections to encompass a total of four executive editors who coordinate the work of many editors and writers. Our RPI reporting team spearheads fair, justice-oriented, and comprehensive coverage of marginalized communities at the College and systemic inequities in all facets of campus life. The team meets weekly to support the pitching, sourcing, writing, and editing of stories related to race, privilege, and identity.

We have also welcomed 21 talented new section editors to the editorial board. I’m confident that they will push the Record forward and make many valuable contributions to this community through their editing and reporting.

In order to do the best possible reporting, we want to hear from you — students, faculty, staff, alums, Williamstown residents — about what you want in our pages. Pitches, op-eds, commentary on recent articles, and more are all welcome. Let us know what you like, what you want to see more of, and where we fell short by emailing me at [email protected] or contacting us on our website. We consider our work as student-journalists to be a public good, and in that spirit, I look forward to serving you — the public — this semester.

Sincerely,

Kitt Urdang ’23.5

Editor-in-Chief