Dear Argus readers,

We can’t believe how quickly this semester has flown by! It feels like just yesterday we were bundled up in the cold, and now we’re sitting on Foss Hill enjoying the sun.

As our time as Editors-in-Chief comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on this past semester at The Argus and all our brilliant staff has accomplished. We are so proud of everyone’s hard work and dedication, and we are honored to have spent time leading this newsroom. We knew going into the semester that being Editors-in-Chief would be a lot of work—and we mean a lot. However, the time we have spent cultivating our coverage, building a stronger community in our newsroom, fostering connections with the campus and Middletown communities, and, of course, problem-solving along the way, has been far more fulfilling than words can describe. The Argus has been such an integral part of our college experiences, and for that, we will be forever grateful.

In the past three-and-a-half months, The Argus covered a broad array of topics, including the formation of the student dining workers’ union, the history of juvenile incarceration in Middletown, rampant burnout among Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) senators, the University’s first Mandarin-language theater production, multiple student fashion shows, and countless athletic victories, to name a few.

Our fabulous opinion section created a column called Argus Apps to share and reflect on Common Application essays written by members of our community with the goal of demystifying the college application process and highlighting people’s past experiences and unique voices.

We also relaunched our food section for the first time since 2016 and featured many recipes and restaurant reviews, a profile on the campus icon Pasta Tom, several personal essays, and so much more.

The Wesleyan Argus Podcast made a comeback this semester, thanks to the hard work of Podcast Manager Lyah Muktavaram ’26, who put in so much time and energy alongside Executive Editor Oscar Kim Bauman ’23 to bring to life the many voices in our campus community. Check out all nine episodes from the semester here.

Head Archivist Sam Hilton ’25 made From The Argives a regular column, delving into our archives and building connections between past and present to showcase how different elements of University life and culture have evolved over time. We could not be more thrilled to welcome News Editor Sida Chu ’26 to the archiving team next semester and to see what comes out of the Argives next!

In addition to our published content, we have sought to make internal improvements this semester, which have been vital components in The Argus production process. Thanks to the support of the Student Budget Committee of the WSA, we successfully updated our technology and infrastructure. Our layout team said goodbye to random crashes as our 2008 iMacs were retired and replaced with new computers, and our writers are all able to avoid transcribing quotes by hand with our new subscription to an online transcription platform. Overall, we hope these changes will facilitate more efficiency and ease for our staff.

There is one person without whom we could not have made this semester the success that it was: we want to thank our fantastic Managing Editor Tiah Shepherd ’23 for her positive energy, journalistic passion, and undying dedication to The Argus. Tiah, we could not have done this without you, and we cannot wait to see you shine in the journalism world beyond Wesleyan. And to many of our other staff members who are graduating, we also extend our gratitude and well wishes for the future: Executive Editors Hallie Sternberg ’23, Oscar Kim Bauman ’23, Oliver Cope ’23, and Jem Shin ’23, Production Managers Riley Vail-Rhodes ’23 and Cole Goco ’23, Arts & Culture Editor Ben Togut ’23, Distribution Manager Emma Singleton ’23, and Social Media Editor Lauren Cho ’23.

So as we prepare to step back from our roles as Editors-in-Chief and pass the responsibility onto Sabrina Ladiwala ’24 and Elias Mansell ’24—both of whom will absolutely excel in the role—we extend our sincerest thanks to you for taking the time to read The Argus and stay informed about the Wesleyan community. 

We hope everyone has a great rest of the semester and a wonderful, relaxing summer ahead.

Signing off as Editors-in-Chief,

Rachel & Andrew