The Record editorial board has elected Max Billick ’26, Haley Zimmerman ’26, Inés Garcia ’26, Aliya Huprikar ’26, Hugh Kane ’27, and Phoebe Pallesen ’27 to lead the newspaper in 2025. Billick will serve as editor-in-chief in the spring, alongside managing editors Kane and Pallesen. In the fall, Zimmerman will follow Billick as editor-in-chief, with Garcia and Huprikar as managing editors. The incoming management will succeed editor-in-chief Julia Goldberg ’25 and managing editors Luke Chinman ’25 and Emily Zas ’25.

Billick said that the Record will continue to prioritize investigative reporting in the coming year. “Students at the College rely on the administration in many different ways, which is especially true at a rural, residential college,” Billick said. “Holding college offices accountable through investigative reporting is an important commitment for our paper.”

Zimmerman emphasized the importance of “asking the right questions.” “That is what leads to really good journalism,” she said. “I look forward to figuring out how to ask those questions. And that will also come from the community and diversity we can build on the paper.”

The incoming management team highlighted its desire to build an editorial board that represents the College community. “I want our board to reflect the wide array of backgrounds Williams students have because I think that’s the only way we can do our best reporting,” Garcia said. 

“I’m excited to build a board of active and thorough reporters who will be able to find the questions that need answering,” Kane added.

Incoming management also hopes to expand its readership at the College. “I want to work on crafting more innovative stories, and by doing that we will hopefully broaden our base of Record readers on campus,” Huprikar said. 

“I’m looking forward to empowering the writers we have on the Record to establish their own voice, which will broaden our work,” Pallesen said. 

Meet the incoming Record management:

Max Billick ’26

Billick is an economics and history major from San Francisco, Calif. He will serve as editor-in-chief in spring 2025. He previously served as a college news section editor and the executive editor for town news. 

Billick has spearheaded much of the Record’s Town coverage in recent semesters, writing articles on plans to increase affordable housing and debates within the Select Board.

“I’m also quite proud of the investigation into the Honor and Discipline Committee that I did earlier this semester,” he said. The piece found that the committee used an incorrect voting procedure for over a year and that multiple students received harsher sanctions as a result. 

Outside of the Record, Billick is involved with the Williams College Jewish Association and enjoys long walks. 

Haley Zimmerman ’26

Zimmerman is an English and mathematics major from Seattle, Wash. She will serve as  editor-in-chief in fall 2025. She has served as a features section editor and now serves as the executive editor for news and the executive editor for data. 

In these roles, Zimmerman has reported on key decisions by the College’s administration, such as the continuation of the Williams-Mystic Program, the transition to Workday, and changes to the structure of the sexual assault prevention and response office.

“Two of my favorite articles I’ve written have been about the Phantom 500 and alleged Clery Act violations against the Title IX office,” she said. “What I’m trying to do in these instances is find a question that a lot of people have but don’t know how to find the answer.”   

Outside of the Record, Zimmerman works as barista at Goodrich Coffee Bar, a Writing Center tutor, and a freelance writer for the Seattle Times. She enjoys running and cooking. 

Inés Garcia ’26

Garcia is a chemistry and English major from Palo Alto, Calif. She will serve as a managing editor in fall 2025. She previously served as a college news section editor and executive editor for sports. 

In addition to her reporting on sports teams, Garcia has covered events hosted by student groups across campus, such as the annual ethnic and Indigenous studies teach-in, Affinity Previews, and the Black Student Union’s Renaissance Gala. “The Record has helped me to engage with Williamstown in ways that I wouldn’t have otherwise,” she said. Garcia cited articles on an Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebration, Crust’s opening, and new management at Tony’s Sombrero as opportunities for her to become more integrated in the Berkshires. 

Outside of the Record, Garcia is a research assistant in the Rawle Lab, a science fellow at the Williamstown Elementary School, and a Class of 1960 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Scholar. 

Aliya Huprikar ’26

Huprikar is an economics and history major from Irvington, N.Y. She will serve as a managing editor in fall 2025. She serves as an arts section editor and crossword editor. 

Huprikar reported on the College’s endowment and related protests, including coverage of the student encampment, last spring. “I was really proud of our thorough reporting and thought it was exemplary of the beauty of the Record, where you go to the bottom of the article and there are four or five ‘contributed reporting’ lines — really good journalism from really good people,” she said. Huprikar has also covered the investment office’s new website, reductions in funding for some Registered Student Organizations, and the a cappella audition process. 

Outside of the Record, Huprikar is a tutor at the Berkshire House of Corrections through the Positive Pathway Partnership, a teaching assistant for the economics department, and an economics tutor for the peer academic support network. She also enjoys being a DJ at WCFM. 

Hugh Kane ’27

Kane is a prospective Russian major from New York, N.Y. He will serve as a managing editor in spring 2025. Kane is an opinions section editor. 

Kane has reported on the College’s public art policies, faculty debates over credit/no credit courses, and possible changes to first-year housing. “My best and most thorough piece for the Record was when I covered discipline responses to protests at a speaker event,” he said. “The mission of that piece was to demystify a procedural thing that shocked a lot of people at the College.” 

Outside of the Record, Kane is a member of ski patrol and works as a Writing Center tutor. He also enjoys playing catch with his friends. 

Phoebe Pallesen ’27

Pallesen is a prospective Chinese and English major from New York, N.Y. She will serve as a managing editor in spring 2025.

She serves as a features section editor. Pallesen is most proud of her profile of Mariët Westermann, the new director of the Guggenheim Museum. “The piece felt important to me because I got to represent the facts of her life and also craft a narrative in a way that felt reflective of my personality and what I value in writing,” she said. Pallesen has also covered College employees’ political donations, the final iteration of the “Hollywood Film” course, and the 150-year anniversary of the Milne Public Library.  

Outside of the Record, Pallesen is a co-programming director for WCFM and a volunteer at Brayton Elementary School. She enjoys collage-making.