Letter from the editor

By Madeline Marriott, Editor-in-Chief • September 1, 2023

To our readers,

This is the 150th volume of The Lafayette, and you know what they say – the 150th time’s the charm.

It brings me great joy when I see community members flipping through papers around campus. It’s the tangible product of hours and hours of work, sure, but it also reminds me of one of the reasons I chose to attend Lafayette: the way our community members lift each other up.

So, what is the job of a college newspaper? We as a staff have a number of obligations to members of the community, the first of which is to inform in a comprehensive, timely and unbiased way. We strive to do this each and every week, and it routinely takes us to uncomfortable and challenging places. We have to make unpopular choices, and we take them very seriously. We have to ask tough questions, and we try to handle the topics with care. We are often learning as we go, and we certainly have not perfected the process, but we are doing our best to fulfill our duties and give the community the information it deserves.

It is also our job to be storytellers – to seek out, uncover and elevate the stories of unseen and unheard people and groups in the community. It is our job to show what kind of place Lafayette is at its core and highlight the people that make it special. We hope you’ll help us on this journey by contributing to the stories we can tell through input on story ideas, letters to the editor and op-eds.

It is one of the great honors of my life so far to step into this role, and it is one that I promise to take on with tenacity, curiosity and empathy. I am thrilled to be working with Emma Chen ’24 and Trebor Maitin ’24 as managing editors, as well as an all-star staff of section editors, assistant editors and writers. They are as brilliant, talented and dedicated as they come, and it is a privilege to call them colleagues and, more accurately, friends.

Our goals this year are ambitious – redesigns, fundraising campaigns and a greater than ever focus on building relationships with all facets of the community. If you feel inclined to support us in these endeavors, please consider subscribing or donating. It’s going to be a great year.

Sincerely,

Madeline Marriott ’24

Editor-in-Chief

About the Contributor

Madeline Marriott, Editor-in-Chief

Maddie (she/her) is a senior English major with a Government & Law minor. As the Editor-in-Chief, a Mentor Writing Associate, a Senior Student Contributor for Lafayette Communications, a Communications Intern for the Office of Sustainability, co-founder and Vice President of English Club, and a Senior Interviewer for Lafayette Admissions, no writing happens on campus without her knowing about it. Her Google Calendar would make your head spin. She is a die-hard Swiftie and Phillies fan, a collector of tote bags, a builder of a Hay Day empire, and an avid Goodreads and Letterboxd user. She smokes cigars and uses an old-timey typewriter and notepad in the newsroom.