As my time comes to a close with the Clarion, it is a bittersweet feeling. All of my Sundays spent editing, late production nights, an endless amount of emails and hard work is coming to a close. But there is also a feeling of excitement moving on to the next chapter of my life, and I’ll bring everything learned from the Clarion into my law career. 

I am eternally grateful for my time with the Clarion over these past four years. I truly never thought I would spend my senior year serving as the Editor-in-Chief of DU’s student newspaper. The Clarion has always served as an outlet for me and been extremely impactful for my growth as a writer and a student. I am proud of my work, writing 60 articles and creating a subsection on the website shining light on the university’s responsibility to divest from fossil fuels. I published two separate series that focused on aspects around climate change and sustainability. 

Being the president of the Clarion, the voice of the students, has come with a great deal of responsibility. This past year, writers brought their concerns to the Clarion to publish and encourage conversations around injustices in our world and at DU. Writers have also supplied the Clarion with satire, concert and album reviews, detailed recounts of DU’s sport events and in-depth interviews spotlighting clubs on campus that students may not know about.

My goal during my time as Editor-in-Chief was to increase the amount of writers and to encourage students to write about complex issues. The university as a whole has seen a drop in student involvement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as leader of the Clarion I hoped to provide a place where students felt comfortable contributing. I would say Conor and I succeeded. The amount of writers that consistently wrote articles each week truly warms my heart and leaves me optimistic for the future of the paper. The socials to the aquarium, Illegal Pete’s and Connor’s house were all a wonderful way to get to know the editors. I can confidently say that I am leaving the Clarion with not only connections to aspiring journalists, but also friends. 

Thank you to all of the wonderful students and faculty who make up the Clarion. That includes contributing writers, business managers, faculty advisors and the editorial staff. The Clarion would not be the paper it is today without the help and contributions from all of these amazing and hardworking people. Thank you for trusting me with your articles that you spent time outside of work and school to complete. 

Thank you Conor Chapman, the executive editor and vice president over this past year, for working through every technical difficulty that our website faced and responding to my late night and early morning Slack messages. 

To Ana Ortega, the future Editor-in-Chief, I hope you continue to encourage conversations around diversity and inclusion, as I believe this rhetoric is lacking around our campus. Conor and I will be there to support you in transitioning into your new role, and adding two new sections to the paper.

To the future of the Clarion, continue being the voice of the student body. Continue having difficult conversations about DU and our current state of society. To DU students, continue to speak out about your passions and the inequalities you notice around you. Continue to hold the university accountable for their actions. Continue to be an outlet for student activism and an ally to marginalized groups on campus. To the editors, continue making students and contributing writers feel safe, heard and welcomed to share their personal experiences and article ideas. Continue making the Clarion a fun and exciting club that people strive to join. 

Thank you for an amazing year. I am so excited to watch the Clarion grow and evolve over the years.

Tori Everson

2021-2022