My goodbye as editor-in-chief

By Zoe Strozewski, Editor-in-Chief | Published by December 7, 2020

When I started writing this goodbye, I thought about beginning with a sentiment you’d expect to see in this kind of article, such as “I can’t believe my time as editor-in-chief of The Tower is ending so soon.” However, I realized there was a more important message I could convey about this newspaper and group of reporters in about 600 words.

In a year that has been unlike any other and an equally strange semester, The Tower’s staff did the seemingly impossible. We have released a monthly edition without once meeting face-to-face.

A newspaper can’t exist without collaboration and communication. Every staff member is valuable piece of a puzzle: writing, editing, visualizing and finalizing. It takes an incredible work ethic to facilitate this flow solely over Zoom meetings, emails and text messages. I can’t even put into words how proud I am of each and every member of the staff for putting in the time and effort to making this happen.

We got our first taste of this dynamic in the Spring 2020 semester, when the world suddenly found itself navigating stay-at-home orders, social distancing and remote learning. The Tower had to adapt quickly to the new normal, placing a heightened focus on online journalism and reaching our audience from a distance.

Our dedication to success was acknowledged in March 2020, when The Tower was named New Jersey’s number one college newspaper for the first time ever by the NJ Collegiate Press Association for the 2019-2020 school year, beating out universities like Princeton and Fairleigh Dickinson. (I had to brag one last time) Our staff has always been small in number, but this reinforced the truth that what we lack in size we make up for with passion and talent.

Despite the horrors the world has faced in 2020, this has been a time of growth for college newspapers in general. The Tower and equivalents at other universities are more important than ever as they’ve provided local coverage and perspective on the pandemic, sometimes breaking major stories before the professional media. 

For example, New York University’s student newspaper, Washington Square News, was the first to report on a COVID-19 outbreak in a campus dorm. The Alligator at the University of Florida created and continuously updates a map of cases on campus. 

Truth is so easily blurred or blocked these days and the media plays a key role in accountability and transparency. College newspapers have really stepped up to the challenge, and while it’s been so easy for the bad to drown out the good lately, this fact gives me hope.

I am thrilled to be passing along the editor-in-chief position to Valerie Sanabria, who has brought a great sense of leadership to the features section this past semester while continuously contributing great articles. I know she, along with the rest of this incredible staff, will carry on the quality and spirit of the best college newspaper in New Jersey. (Okay that was the last brag I promise)

I am so thankful for the opportunity to have this position in my final semester of college, and I’m even more thankful for the people who have been there every step of the way. This is especially true for the Tower’s advisors Patricia Lauro and Lois Desocio, who were extremely supportive as I adapted and patient enough to answer countless text messages at any hour of the day. 

It’s sad to think this is the last article I will ever write for something that has allowed me to become the journalist I am today. However, I will move forward into the real world, although a scary thought, prepared and passionate because of my time here.

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