The CXLI Board published the first ever State of the Eight Schools Association (E.S.A.), which surveyed other schools in the E.S.A. about their lifestyle and opinions.
This is the first issue of The Phillipian vol. CXLII, with the former board of Editors, Managers, and Upper Management having officially left the newsroom.
During the tenure of vol. CXLI, the board established a new Multilingual section, hosted the second interscholastic Blueprint Journalism Conference, released the 2018 State of the Academy, and developed the paper’s “digital first” policy, among other accomplishments. In their final issue, vol. CXLI released the first-ever State of the Eight Schools Association (E.S.A.), a collaborative effort between Andover’s peer school newspapers.
Former Editor-in-Chief (E.I.C.) Helen He ’19 reflected on the bittersweet nature of the turnover. While admitting that she was going to miss the Newsroom, He remained confident that the paper is in good hands with the new board.
“It, in a sense, is heartbreaking, but it’s also really exciting. We’ve been at the reins of this paper for a year, but it’s really invigorating to be able to see what this new board is going to do. I have so much confidence in them, they’re all superstars, they’re all so passionate and they love this paper so much… Thinking about the new board and the new Upper Management provides a good amount of comfort to know that we’re passing it onto them,” said He.
Will Ennis ’19, former Executive Editor, expressed gratitude towards the relationships and experiences that he was able to cultivate by being a part of The Phillipian, as well as the unique opportunities that he was able to take advantage of.
“[The Phillipian has] been a huge part of my life, not just in terms of the time it took up, which is definitely something to consider, but also just the people I met there, the friends that I have now that I know I wouldn’t have without The Phillipian. It gave me [the chance] to get in this awesome, collaborative, student-run space that I don’t think exists anywhere else on campus,” said Ennis.
Andie Pinga ’19, who was a Managing Editor alongside Anna Lang ’19, reminisced about her time in the newsroom, emphasizing its ever-changing nature. Pinga also noted how she would miss the little moments that defined her time at the The Phillipian.
Pinga said, “I’ll miss the chocolate s’more pop tarts. I’ll miss late night vlogs to upload the paper, hanging up page count, finding the secret stash, taking photo booth pictures with Senna [Hahn ’20], and arguing with [Upper Management about] whether chicken have teeth… I’ll miss the little things, you know, just having purpose and structure in my life. But I think most of all, I’ll miss the people. Because I think that in five years, I may come down to the the newsroom to visit, and the room can be exactly the same, but it won’t be my newsroom,” said Pinga.
Linda Bibeau ’20, Sports Editor, appreciated the ways in which CXLI led the paper and their ability to stay calm despite challenging situations.
“When I think of CXLI in general, they were just so composed and led with such grace. They really just emphasized to all of us the power that we have being the newspaper at our school and being completely student-run, but making sure that we [don’t] abuse that power and [know] how to use it correctly,” said Bibeau.
Ennis placed confidence in the incoming board of Editors and Upper Management.
“We’ve picked an awesome board… I think they’re going to do an awesome job. They have great vision as a group. We learned from reading their apps [and] I think they’re going to take the paper in a really cool direction,” said Ennis.
The masthead of vol. CXLII’s Upper Management is slightly different this year, with three Managing Editors and one Executive Digital Editor instead of two Managing Editors and two Managing Digital Editors.
In addition, the new board is led by a President rather than an E.I.C. According to former Managing Digital Editor Annie Lord ’19, the board made this decision based on the skills of Tessa Conrardy ’20, President of The Phillipian and former Illustration and Layout Editor.
“The reason we chose to have a President instead of an E.I.C. is because Tessa, even though she doesn’t have as much editorial experience, [has unparalleled] digital experience, so the ideas she has [and] her eye for visual [are just really amazing] because she was an Illustration Editor. I think the paper [has] been on an upward track in getting more digital and trying to go more digital first,” said Lord.
Conrardy expressed both sadness at the old board’s departure and excitement for what ideas the new board brings to the Newsroom.
“I personally am really hoping to expand The Phillipian’s digital presence. I think that especially in an increasingly digital age of journalism, it’s really important that we expand digitally. I’m also hoping to make the paper a little bit of a friendlier entity on campus… I think because the paper holds itself to such a high journalistic standard, people get really invested in the paper and we tend to take ourselves a little bit seriously every once in a while, so I really want to make the paper a friendly presence on campus and a place where students from all walks of life feel that they can be comfortable and and free to contribute,” said Conrardy.
Executive Editor and former News Associate Alexandra LeBaron ’20 hopes to become closer with her fellow members of vol. CXLII. While she had previously known members on CXLII, LeBaron hopes to achieve the same level of friendship that she witnessed between the Editors of vol. CXLI.
“I am really excited to get to know everyone better. Margot [Hutchins ’20, former Copy Associate] and I have been friends since [Junior] fall, but I [hadn’t] met a lot of these people or become close to them until this year. So I’m really excited just to have that bond… and I’m really excited to have that sort of community on campus,” said LeBaron, previously a News Associate.
Former Eighth Page Associate William Leggat ’20 will assume the position of Managing Editor alongside Hutchins and former Commentary Associate Junah Jang ’20. He is also looking forward to working with the new Upper Management of vol. CXLII. According to Leggat, he draws inspiration from their very first meeting.
“I have a lot of confidence in the rest of my Upper Management team. Tessa Conrardy… has an amazing vision for what this paper can be… I think something [CXLI] said to us when they brought us down for our first meeting was that they had an idea for this board, a vision for this board, as as a team of innovators pushing beyond what the day-to-day process of making the paper is and going into large projects,” said Leggat.
Former Video Associate Samson Zhang ’20 has taken on the position of Executive Digital Editor from former Managing Digital Editors Isaiah Lee ’19 and Lord. Lord explained how this change signals a shift towards a more digital first strategy for The Phillipian.
“I think the paper’s been on an upward track in getting more digital and trying to go more digital first… Samson has plans of just completely rebranding our digital section, getting more content digitally, and also thinking about how our website looks on the computer, how our website looks on the phone, that kind of thing. I think that the paper has a lot of great stuff in store going more digital first,” said Lord.
Ekan Belo-Osagie ’19, former Chief Financial Officer, is also excited for the future of the paper and expressed trust in new Chief Financial Officer Nolan Hamilton ’20 and the Business section.
“I have a lot of faith in Nolan, and I think that he has the skills necessary to bring the section to a good direction… I’m really excited to see the things that he can do that I wasn’t able to do, and I’m really excited to see the progress that he is going to expand [upon what] the previous boards have worked towards…I think that he has a really good team supporting him full of people who are really passionate about the section,” said Belo-Osagie.
Christina Cho ’19, former News Editor, reminisced about her start in The Phillipian and expressed gratitude and good wishes towards the new Editors.
“I’m definitely going to miss working with Andie Pinga [’19], who was a Managing Editor… I remember [Junior] fall, we were writing [our first articles] at the same time… we had no idea what was going on and we had to run across campus to get interviews, but just being able to stick with her for four years and be on the board together has been the most fun thing ever,” said Cho.
Cho continued, “For News, I think Steve [Nam ’20] and Rachel [Chang ’20] are going to do a really good job. They have been really consistent with all their work so far. I just hope that they just keep up their energy and keep understanding why they’re there and believe in the work that they’re doing.”
Allison Zhu ’19, former Commentary Editor, found it hard to believe that her time in Newsroom was coming to a close.
“I’ve been writing for the Commentary section since my [Junior] year, so this is my fourth year, and having to leave seems unreal… Last year, I watched all my Editors leave. They painted their names on the newsroom and then signed off and now it’s our time,” said Zhu.
Alexander Bernhard ’19, former Eighth Page Editor, expressed sadness at leaving the Newsroom, but was excited in the future of his section and its leaders.
“I think I’m just going to miss the people and all of them being together in one space three times a week. It was a lot of time, but it’s a special community, and a lot of people that I wouldn’t’ve met otherwise. [The section] is strong. It’s strong. I’m really excited to see what Rachel [Neplokh ’20] and Lily [Rademacher ’21] do. I think that they both have a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” said Bernhard.
Adrienne Li ’19, former Arts Editor, believes that the new board possesses the skills to continue on the work of CXLI.
“It feels really weird, but I think that we’re all kind of at that point where we’re ready. All the Associates already pretty much know how things work in the Newsroom. So I think that this is the right point for us to make that switch, and I’m really excited to see what the next board does,” said Li.
When asked what advice she had for the incoming board, He said, “A lot of the time, the things that we deal with are going to be scary, but to also know that you have all these people supporting you. There’s always someone there, so just to never forget that.”
