Dear Reader,

I was really on the fence about whether or not to run for Editor in Chief of The Bates Student for a long time. At the end of my junior year, when it was crunch time and I was sick of writing yet another pros and cons list, I asked then-Editor in Chief Jackson Elkins what he thought. Sitting in the storied newsroom in Chase Hall, Jackson looked at me and told me something that I think really rings true: “Even if I wasn’t paid to do this, if it didn’t matter on my resume, I would still do it in a heartbeat.” 

It has been an interesting year to serve as Editor in Chief of The Bates Student, with physical assaults, a presidential search, and a department canceling senior thesis, but I cannot imagine not doing it. As I sit down to write my last ever piece for The Student, I find myself overwhelmed with emotions about saying goodbye to the paper I’ve called home for the past four years.

When I joined The Student in the fall of my first year at Bates, I figured I would write one or two articles and then stop, overwhelmed by schoolwork or other extra curricular activities. What I found instead, however, was a community that embraced me and a place where I belonged on campus. 

I am so proud of our 2022-23 editors and staff writers for consistently putting out work that we can all be proud of. The quality of our reporting has only continually improved throughout the school year. Our cohort of first year writers has been especially impressive this year, and I am so glad to know the legacy of The Student is in such good hands. 

I would like to thank everyone who has mentored me over the years, including Vanessa Paolella, Steve Collins, Mark Mogensen and Judy Meyer of The Lewiston Sun Journal and David Dahl, Samantha Hogan, Rose Lundy and Kate Cough of The Maine Monitor for their continued support. Our alumni board, which we created this year, has also been extremely helpful. To my parents and my friends who have heard me talk about The Student for four straight years. I would be lost without my female friendships, especially. Thank you to Fiona Cohen for keeping me sane both on the newspaper and while writing our history theses. Thank you to Emily Tamkin, Chloe Arons, Hazel Delehey and Emma Blakslee for always asking me about what I’m writing about. 

I am very pleased to share that next year, Ella Beiser and Maple Buescher will serve as Co-Editors in Chief next year. They are whip smart and passionate about the craft of journalism. They’re the perfect mix of curious and nosey, and I believe they will only continue to grow and support The Student’s legacy. It has been such a pleasure to work with both them and our incoming Managing Editor Nichol Weylman-Farwell and to watch them transform into truly excellent reporters and editors.

One final note which I would be remiss not to include: being a student journalist at any college is both incredibly important and unbelievably difficult. At The Student, we serve as the unbiased news source on campus. That’s not to say that we have not run into complications in our mission to deliver independent and fearless journalism. We have, both this year and in the past, faced pressures from various offices on campus to lighten our reporting, to take down stories, and to not run stories at all. As I say goodbye to The Student, I walk away hoping that the college, and its new leadership of Incoming President Garry Jenkins will understand and respect the importance of our reporting. One of the reasons we created our alumni board and have worked to form such strong relationships with local journalists is to protect our editorial independence and quality of reporting. I feel confident that Ella, Maple and Nichol will work hard to continue The Student’s legacy of strong, independent journalism.

This summer I will serve as a metro reporting intern at The Boston Globe and in the fall I will move to Chicago to get my master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. I am incredibly grateful for what The Student has given me. It has been my favorite thing on this campus, and always will be.

Signing off for the last time,

Ellie Wolfe