Hi VanCougs!
My name is Gracie Newberry and I am The VanCougar’s 2022 managing editor! Last year, The VanCougar welcomed me to the team as their copy editor. This year, I am honored to assume the role of managing editor alongside our fearless editor-in-chief Olivia Eldredge. I am beyond lucky to take on this role with such a well-rounded staff — no stone is left unturned with this group, and that is no doubt due to their passion for journalism.
Upon joining the team last year, I was amazed by The VanCougar’s self-sufficiency. The team — full of fervor, tenacity and enthusiasm — had little guidance from the university. All skills were a conglomeration of knowledge passed down through generations of VanCougar teams. I am beyond impressed with The VanCougar’s ability to stay afloat through a pandemic, previously without a journalism adviser, and with a small team due to record low enrollment. However, my intentions are to work smarter, not harder. Already, Olivia and I have garnered immense support from the university. Specifically, the staff at the Office of Student Involvement have been eager to support our team, and I foresee great relationships between The VanCougar and other student-led organizations across the university.
Another goal of mine is for The VanCougar to have a larger presence on campus. My hope is that our team will be more present at university events — building new relationships with students, staff, faculty and community members. Our office door — located on the north side of the Dengerink Administration Building — will be open as often as possible, and we welcome visitors to stop in for a chat. I encourage anyone who has a story to tell to reach out to us; The VanCougar is as much your newsmagazine as it is ours.
My intentions are for The VanCougar to be a source of trustworthy and timely news that community members are eager to engage with. I want to tell the stories of the underrepresented with transparency and justice. I do not want to entertain the mediocre, I want to find the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary. However, I also want our newsmagazine to be engaging, fun and a reflection of the incredible WSU Vancouver community. As our new journalism advisor Leonard Reed said, the WSU Vancouver campus is paved with stories to tell and it is our duty to tell them.
Cheers,
2022 Managing Editor
Gracie Newberry
