Dear readers,
Thank you for reading the Record’s first issue of 2024!
As we approach the spring semester, the Record reemerges into a changing and contentious landscape in higher education. In the last year, campuses across the nation have reckoned with heightened scrutiny of free speech and campus activism, as well as the aftermath of last summer’s ruling on affirmative action. As the Class of 2024 approaches its well-deserved graduation festivities, we are also reminded of the continued impact of COVID-19 on campus life and culture, even in the absence of restrictive public health policies.
Amid this changing landscape, student journalism has played an important role in vetting the facts and holding truth to power. Recognizing journalism’s inherent political impact allows us to produce stronger coverage and shape our community for the better.
This semester, the 2024 editorial board renews and upholds our commitment to these values, while pushing forward new initiatives of our own.
We will continue to produce fair, honest, and accurate reporting of both the College and the Town. We will also strive to deepen our relationships with the community around us, particularly with marginalized students, who have historically been underserved by our reporting.
In pursuit of these goals, we have made changes, including the expansion of our Race, Privilege, and Identity reporting team to a broader working group of editors. We believe that the pursuit of justice-oriented reporting should be the collective focus of our entire editorial board rather than the sole responsibility of a small team of executive editors.
Last semester, we assembled a working group to gain a deeper understanding of how the Record has historically covered these communities and to better shape editorial practices moving forward. Now a permanent fixture of our board, the team will recommit to coverage of marginalized communities at the College and the systemic inequities that reveal themselves in campus life.
This semester, we also welcomed 17 new editors to our board, who will join our 18 returning editors and 70 staff writers. I am honored to work alongside this remarkable team of student journalists and excited to see what meaningful work they produce.
Beyond the new names on our masthead, you may have also noticed some changes to its positions. We have restructured our social media section to reflect the revival of our newsletter and expanded our visuals team to include editors dedicated to producing photography and graphics. We hope that these changes will strengthen our ability to tell multimedia stories and improve the visual experience of engaging with the Record.
Additionally, we created a position for an executive editor of Town news to support our news team in its diligent coverage of the Town, with an emphasis on the Williamstown Select Board and Williamstown Police Department.
Through our reporting, the Record strives to celebrate that which is good, illuminate injustices, and better our community — but as a newspaper composed entirely of full-time students, we may fall short of these goals. We rely heavily on community input and count on our readers to hold us accountable. If you have pitches, feedback, or criticism of our coverage, I invite you to submit to our anonymous tip line or to email me directly at [email protected]. If you wish to speak directly to our readership, I encourage you to submit a letter to the editor or an op-ed.
Above all, we are always open to hearing thoughts from you, the reader, whom this newspaper aims to serve.
I am proud of the role that the Record has played in keeping our community informed and reporting stories yet untold, and I am grateful for the chance to work with the wonderful people who comprise this team.
Sincerely yours,
Izzy Polanco ’25
Editor-in-Chief
