“Community” is a word that we use frequently at Choate.
Its synonyms — group, body, population, populace — cannot replace the ideas and emotions that we associate with the word, one that aims to unite more than 800 students and 400 faculty and staff members from different hometowns, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds. How we collectively refer to ourselves, the Choate community, is an affirmation of the mutual streams of support and companionship that we provide one another.
We, the 111th Masthead of The Choate News, believe such an esprit de corps is also seen within our paper. Each member of this masthead brings something different to the table. Some of us play hockey, some participate in the Science Research Program, some star in Choate’s theatrical productions, some build robots, some read 150 pages over a weekend for American Studies. Despite our varying interests, we are united under a common passion — a passion to serve as reporters who present important information through an unbiased lens, as moderators who observe and weigh in on the different sides of pertinent issues, and as commentators who push campus-wide conversations forward. Through these roles, we are humbled to represent and serve the Choate community for this coming year.
To Bryce, Lucas, Sabrina, Truelian, Varshini, Katharine, Jack, Jessica, Camila, Rachel, Elle, and the rest of the 110th Masthead: thank you for granting us the opportunity to do what we love most, and for trusting us to continue the legacy that you cemented this past year. The boundless dedication, talent, and creativity of the 110th Masthead has set the bar high for us. Nonetheless, we hope to make you proud.
To our beloved advisers, Mr. Peed and Ms. Stout: thank you for believing in us and for always reminding us that we can and should strive to do better. One of the most rewarding parts about this job is being able to work alongside and learn from the best.
And, last, to our readers:
Community, by definition, cannot exclude any of its members. In recent years, several students have expressed their concern about the lack of ideological diversity in The Choate News, often citing our Opinions pages as evidence. While that concern may often be valid, we know that our contributors, something of a self-selected bunch, rarely write from a non-liberal viewpoint — The Choate News always aims for thoughtful, fact-based, nuanced perspectives.
So we implore you, collectively the true voice of our community, to take initiative and contribute to The Choate News. Regardless of your race, religion, age, gender, politics, or any of the other distinctions that too often divide humans, consider using The Choate News as a medium to express your opinions and as a means of furthering your passion for writing, editing, photographing, illustrating, and coding. Ultimately, it is our hope that by the end of our tenures as editors, The Choate News will reflect a single, heterogeneous vision for the paper — ours, yours, the community’s.
This editorial represents the views of the 111th Masthead of The Choate News.
