Fall is a great time for news. From fresh-eyed first-years to visiting professors, renovated facilities to new sports teams, there’s essentially a flood of new information to take in at the start of the semester. And this year, more than ever, as the search for President Bridges’ successor continues, it feels like Whitman might be headed toward some major changes in its near future.

As always, The Pioneer remains committed to reporting on those changes for our readers. This time around, however, we’re also pleased to share some of our own changes. For the first time in four years, we’ve split The Pio‘s leadership into two positions: Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. In October we’re debuting our own radio talk show, where we’ll cover local, national and international news from our uniquely Whittie perspective. And finally, we’re introducing a new feature on our website and in our print paper called the Northwest News Network, which will provide weekly stories from several of our peer colleges.

Even while some things change, a lot of things will –– and should –– stay the same. We at The Pioneer are still serious about our role in providing community news in a timely and interesting fashion. We hope to help continue those important conversations that happened last year about diversity, financial accessibility and divestment, among other things. But most importantly, we will continue our commitment to finding and reporting the truth.

As the two of us settle into our new roles, we look forward to seeing what the school year brings. If it’s anything like the past years, we know it will be interesting.

All the best,

Aleida Fernandez, Publisher, and Emily Lin-Jones, Editor-in-Chief