This semester, we have been exceedingly fortunate to serve the Swarthmore community with enriching and thoughtful pieces. Putting a newspaper together late into the night is by no means an easy feat and could only be possible with our amazing team of writers. We are empowered by your dedication and passion. We are deeply grateful for all your contributions, and we would like to highlight a few pieces that resonated with us throughout the semester.
News:
This spring semester, News writers worked to capture the college’s unprecedented transition from a campus marked by masks, Zoom-based events, stringent COVID-19 restrictions, and, as reported by Zaid Ali ’25, feelings of social isolation in a community that is slowly but surely rumbling back to life. Since President Smith’s announcement of the college’s updated COVID-19 policies, as reported by Sadie Smart ’23, we’ve been privileged to cover the diverse range of campus events, workshops, and celebrations that have followed. Remy Kanegene ’24 reported on the first ever SUCCESS national convening, a college-sponsored conference dedicated to supporting undocumented college students. Highlighting the return of campus traditions disrupted by the pandemic, Sharru Tatacher ’25 reported on the revival of Crum Regatta — the college’s half-century old boat-racing ritual — and Smart covered the well-attended in-person comeback of SwatStruck.
Opinions:
This semester, Opinions writers covered topics from the merits of doing good to events around the world to things that were important to them. Megan Wu ʼ23 wrote a passionate and well-sourced critique of Effective Altruism. Elena Lee’s ʼ23 thoughts on which coast of the U.S. is better (West Coast is Best Coast) made everyone who read it smile. Other writers, such as Martin Rakowszczyk ʼ22 on war in Ukraine and Daniela Gomez ʼ22 on transphobia in competitive swimming, chose to tackle extremely relevant and pressing issues. Turning more inward, Zahara Martinez ʼ23 wrote on the difference between exhaustion and fatigue. In addition, seniors Anatole Shukla, Martin Rakowszczyk, Bess Markel, and Alexandra Specht wrote reflections looking back at their time at Swarthmore.
Arts:
This semester, Katherine Kihiczak ’25 wrote several Artist of the Week articles, from singers to photographers to dancers. We reviewed some movies: Ben Wade ’23 on The Batman, our wonderful Rachel Lapides ’22 on The French Dispatch and The House, and Powell Sheagren ’22 on The Last Duel, to name a few. Selma Wu ’25, talked to us about the process of putting on a student-run fashion show and restarting the Cinema Club. Other writers, like Owen Mornter ’23 and Gabriella Trevino ’23, covered events at Swarthmore and on the larger scene, like this showing of the documentary Philly D.A. and an Oscars Forecast. Callie Cho ’23 offered thoughts on a variety of musical artists, from Dua Lipa to Johnny Cash and Nine Inch Nails.
CJ:
This semester, Campus Journal writers tested the limits of what our publisher would allow to appear in print. Martin Rakowszczyk took us on an indulgent wine tasting tour at the CO-OP and on a deep dive through the McCabe lost & found. Don Nguyen ’25 guided us through the epic episodic tail of Newt the squirrel, who makes his home in the Crum Woods. Dessa Caguioa ’24 finally got some Crumb Cafe French toast at long last. Anatole Shukla ’22 profiled some Swatties that do not exist. Sammy Burchell ’22 helped us cope with the realization that our crush looked better without a mask. Finally, Jake Rothman ’23 chatted with an Effective Altruist boyfriend who performed data analysis on his relationship.
Sports:
This semester, the Sports writers covered several landmark sports events. David Yang ʼ24 covered Tom Brady’s incomplete pass at retirement as the GOAT returned to grace the NFL. In other NFL news Santi Caicedo ʼ22 discussed the controversy of the league’s overtime rules. On the international stage, Grace Griego ʼ22 and Bess Markel ʼ22 provided their ever entertaining commentary on Nathan Chen and the rest of the Winter Olympic ice dancers, and Sophia Vesely ʼ25 covered the record-breaking attendance of a women’s soccer match in the Champions League. The Sports section named eleven athletes of the week from ten different teams and reported the weekly recap on countless thrilling, record-breaking, and historical wins for Swarthmore sports.
Thank you, our lovely readers, for hopping on our website and/or picking up an issue every Thursday morning. We look forward to publishing again next semester!
HAGS!
