As students begin their finals-induced hibernations and gear up for a long-awaited summer, my tenure as editor-in-chief of The Hullabaloo also winds down as I reflect on the year that has passed and look towards the future of The Hullabaloo. 

This time last year, I was elected to this role while quarantining in my childhood bedroom over a thousand miles away. At this point, The Hullabaloo had ceased print production for the first time in nearly 15 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic as our staff continued to report digitally while scattered across the country. 

We spent the summer planning tirelessly for any situation that the world could have thrown at us and preparing our best for the vast unknowns of a world stricken by a devastating pandemic. There was never the option to shut down or stop our work. As journalists, times like these are when we are needed most. 

The Hullabaloo has offered COVID-19 coverage consistently since the beginning of the pandemic through vaccine rollout, including breaking coverage of a vaccine registration link that was distributed amongst students this spring.

We were there to cover the reopening of Tulane, from student reactions to faculty concerns and regular updates regarding cases on campus. 

This year has also been one of important social change, both on and off campus. The Hullabaloo has followed along with Black Lives Matter protests, administration responses and student movements to abolish the Tulane University Police Department, as well as the Tulane Black Student Union’s continuous fight for Black students on campus. We also reported as resident advisors at Tulane demanded better treatment by Housing and Residence Life and most recently as several Undergraduate Student Government executives resigned and sparked revolutionary conversations regarding anti-Blackness in Tulane’s student government.

Throughout all of this, we have also been working to make The Hullabaloo the best it can be for years to come. This has included a complete rebranding of our publication and redesign of our website and the introduction of a new Hullabaloo Orientation Program for aspiring journalists. 

Perhaps most notably, we also launched a successful campaign to Save The Hullabaloo. As an independently funded student-run newspaper, we have struggled financially throughout COVID-19, and in order to continue to serve as the eyes and ears of this campus, we needed the help of our readers. With the generous contributions of readers like you, we are now able to continue to operate and serve future generations of Tulanians.

Our staff has also faced a host of obstacles outside of COVID-19, from hurricanes to the flooding of our office space, but this could not stop us either. I think that this truly speaks to the caliber of greatness to be found within the walls of this newsroom, where I sit writing this letter, surrounded by friends and colleagues that have had a lasting impact on my life.

It is difficult to express just how proud I am of those who have worked alongside me during my tenure, and how truly humbled I am by what I have learned from each and every one of them. The Hullabaloo is a community of the most driven and talented people that I have come to know at Tulane, and every member of this staff has been instrumental to our functioning this year. 

As I sign off for the final time, I look forward to the future of The Hullabaloo. I am excited to pass the torch along to incoming Editor-in-Chief Maiya Tate and her newly elected managing board, all of whom I trust to lead with grace and dignity in the year to come.

There is an ever-growing light at the end of the tunnel that this year has been, and as our world begins to rebuild and we find a new sense of normalcy after COVID-19, The Hullabaloo will continue to be there alongside you — continuing to serve as your eyes and ears. 

This past year as the Editor-in-Chief of The Hullabaloo has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life, and I am so honored to have served in that role. It would not have been possible without our readers, my entire Hull family and countless others who have constantly supported me. To each and every one of you, thank you.