When I first stepped into a Clarion meeting four years ago, I was terrified. In fact, I was so terrified that I only wrote one story (probably one of the only lifestyle pieces I’ve ever written…) and didn’t return to the Clarion for an entire year. In my mind, everyone was so much more competent than I was as a writer, and I would not measure up. I remember watching the editors at the time, Connor W. Davis and Meg McIntyre, with such intense admiration. I thought they were the coolest people on campus. I couldn’t even imagine that I would one day be standing in their place. But that’s who the Clarion helped make me.
A year after my first meeting, I gained the courage to apply for the Opinions Editor position for my sophomore year. I was shocked when I found out I got the position and graciously accepted the chance to learn under editors Jillian Queri and Kelsie Brannen. It was that year as Opinions Editor that my voice began to form and my confidence began to grow. That year was tough on campus, for many reasons. Our “free speech wall” was defaced with messages of racial hate, and affinity groups’ student demands were altered with racist messages. That year was also monumental in that it was the first year at DU that I witnessed students rise up and fight for their safety and equality on campus. As a reporter, I got to follow students of color along as they led the way to advocate for themselves and their classmates. In doing so, I’ve made meaningful connections and friendships on campus and had a major part in documenting the history and change that was made.
I made it my mission during the rest of my time at the Clarion as Opinions Editor, Staff Writer and Executive Editor to uplift the voices on campus that are least heard. I got to write about the struggles students of color face at this predominantly white institution, to expose hate incidents that have occured on campus, to highlight the struggle of Native students in academia and at DU and to uplift the voices of the most marginalized on campus. In doing this, I have created my own voice and power. I owe the Clarion as being a major part of that and the bravery of the students who were willing to share their own stories and inspire people like me to do the same.
I am incredibly honored to have served the Clarion during my time at DU, especially as this last year as Executive Editor, and I have a lot of people to thank.
To my preceding editors—Connor, Meg, Jillian, Kelsie, John and Ryan: I could not have done any of this without the path you paved for the Clarion and the knowledge you passed down to me. Thank you.
To the Clarion’s faculty advisor, Andrew Matranga: you have guided my writing career the last four years and have never stopped fighting for me, the Clarion and student voice on campus. Thank you for all that you do for us.
To the Media, Film and Journalism Studies department head, and my own personal advisor, Lynn Schofield Clark: I want to thank you for not only guiding the Clarion, but for always believing in and advocating for me. You’ve been such an important part of my career at DU, and I’ll forever be thankful for that.
To the Clarion staff, past and present: you all are so incredibly talented—probably more talented than I—and I am so lucky to have known each of you. You all have truly become another family that I can come home to, and for that, I am lucky.
To Editor-in-Chief, partner-in-crime and valued friend, Taryn Allen: words cannot describe how talented you are. I know that wherever you go, you’ll do amazing things. I am lucky to have had you as a partner in raising and caring for this paper-baby this year. I could not have asked for a better person, or friend, to have done this with. Thank you for your dedication and hard work in leading this paper. Without a doubt, we would not have done as amazing this year without your guidance.
To our successors, Hannah Branit and Victoria Valenzuela: I could not imagine anyone better to have taken over this paper than you kickass ladies. You are both extremely talented and capable, and I am certain you both will show us up in what you do this year.
To our readers: without you all, we would not be here. I want you all to continue to invest in campus news, and to truly value it, not simply because we work hard as writers and editors, but because it’s important. I encourage you all to value student voice and their experiences—even if their experiences are different than your own. And to our alumni, I hope that you embrace the change you see happening on campus through this paper. Change is good, and we are better for it.
It is my hope that DU’s administration will also continue to value student news and the Clarion, who has served as one of DU’s oldest organizations and as a publication to document the history of DU. I hope that they will honor this by providing us a proper office for the paper in the future, rather than keeping us in the corner of the library in which we now work. This is my parting wish as I leave the paper, and I plan on checking in from time to time to ensure that this is accomplished.
And with that, I am all out of words. Be kind. Let love lead. And goodbye!
With lots of love,
Grace Carson
