Dear Argus readers, 

After a long, eventful, and relatively chilly spring semester, we are still kicking! Taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief as two juniors in a semester that saw Wesleyan begin to return to normalcy, we had a lot of questions about how The Argus would run, which stories we would tell, and how the wider Wesleyan community would respond to our work. Along with those concerns, our staff faced the typical pressures of student journalism: balancing time with academics, making sure The Argus remains a space that fosters learning, ensuring that the paper remains a safe space for all staff members, and maintaining quality coverage. While managing all these facets of our lives this semester has been challenging, we could not be more proud of The Argus and how we navigated these challenges leading up to this final issue. 

This semester, we prioritized telling stories by and for Wesleyan students. The Argus has published several pieces centering on student life on campus, including the formation of the Wesleyan Union of Student Employees by Residential Life student workers, the return of an in-person WesFest, Rho Epsilon Pi’s disaffiliation from Greek Life, the replacement of Spring Fling with University Day, the construction of the new science building, and the removal of the mask and testing requirements as the University returned to a semblance of normalcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Of the many points of pride we have in our coverage, we want to highlight the month-long celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Africana Research Collective’s hosting of their first salon, and how various student groups celebrated and programmed Black History Month. Additional coverage centered around current events, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as the University community held a rally in support of Ukraine and gathered to hear Ukrainian students share their perspectives in a panel series.

In addition, The Argus highlighted the individual contributions of University students, staff, and faculty members through the ongoing iterations of the WesCeleb and Office Hours series. These articles spotlight specific figures in the University community, but also illuminate the broader Wesleyan community. The Argus also held conversations with singer-songwriter Sammy Rae of “Sammy Rae and the Friends” and the student playwrights of “Nothing Comes to Mim” and “The Book of Chrysanthemum.” 

The Argus also published a number of articles centering student culture on campus, including the return of the Mabuhay Showcase, the April film screenings highlighting Asian and Asian American culture, and the “Visualizing Environmental Change” exhibit facilitated by Diane Burko and the College of the Environment. 

We also had outstanding coverage from our sports editors, including the men’s basketball team earning its second NESCAC Championship in program history, the end of the season for the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams, the successes of the women’s track and field team, and the shocking victories of the women’s lacrosse team. Additionally, The Argus had writers share their unique opinions on learning to accept mediocrity, Wesleyan hookup culture, and the emotional, long-term impact of the pandemic.

Along with this coverage, the hard work of Financial Manager Caleb Henning ’25 allowed The Argus to launch online ads to both fundraise and give organizations a platform to share and advertise projects. Moving forward, The Argus hopes to work alongside additional Wesleyan organizations, departments, and amenities for future bases of this outreach. Additionally, we will be helping to organize a sweater campaign over the summer that will launch in the fall to help continue fundraising for The Argus moving forward.

Between now and then, you can continue to support The Argus through our website. We have also continued the Argus Voices Fund to provide paid positions to low income journalists of color, and we hope to see future Argus leaders continuing this initiative. You can donate specifically to the Voices fund through The Argus’s website as well. 

In addition, from the start of the fall 2022 semester, The Argus will be paying the Editors-in-Chief. We feel that The Argus has much to gain by making this change, primarily in breaking down barriers to student journalism and the most time-consuming position at The Argus. We believe that this is an important financial step in recognizing all of the holistic, critical work that is required of all Editors-in-Chief to keep The Argus going.

Ultimately, The Argus would be nowhere near as impactful and notable without the ongoing hard work and dedication that we have seen from our staff. This semester, every member of The Argus has shown how powerful a love of student journalism can be, no matter what prior experience they have in student journalism or what position they hold. We could not have asked for a better team to support us and represent The Argus, and we are so grateful and proud of everything that we have been able to accomplish with them this semester.

Finally, we could not be more proud to welcome Hallie Sternberg ’23 and Oscar Kim Bauman ’23 as the incoming Editors-in-Chief for the Fall 2022 semester. Having worked with them both closely, we have the utmost confidence that they will continue to uphold the quality of The Argus, while also putting their own unique twist on the directions they choose to take the paper.

We want to conclude this end of the semester note by congratulating those at The Argus who are graduating, especially our two Executive Editors, Hannah Docter-Loeb ’22 and Emma Smith ’22, who placed their faith in us to lead The Argus as Editors-in Chief. We also want to thank the Editors-in-Chief that came before us and led the paper throughout our time at The Argus. As we conclude our final issue this semester, we wanted to thank you all for reading The Argus this semester and for engaging with us throughout the spring. 

Manifesting a great end of the semester! 

All the best,

Oliver & Jem