News

After 29 Issues, CXXXVII Bids Farewell to the Newsroom

On Thursday evening, the members of The Phillipian Volume CXXXVII turned out the lights, took the dumbbell out of the doorway and locked up the newsroom for the last time, heading out into the sunlight for the first time in a year and wondering what to do with their newfound spare time and freedom.

This week marks the final issue for the 137th board and the first for the 138th. The members of The Phillipian Volume CXXXVII will retire from the newsroom, but CXXXVIII will carry on their legacy with a five-person Upper Management instead of four, a separate Business Board and the positions of Executive Digital Editor and Front Page Editor.

“We came into the newsroom filled with hopes and ambition, and there is so much that we wanted to accomplish in our one year—solidifying our digital media presence, for example, or enhancing writer training and recruitment. I hope that with these structural changes, CXXXVIII will have the ability to accomplish all that and so much more,” said Jamie Chen ’15, President and Editor in Chief of CXXXVII.

Under CXXXVII, The Phillipian completed its endowment campaign, launched a new website, made strides toward the digitalization of the paper and established itself as a business.
“The Phillipian gave me everything: friendship, purpose and a greater understanding of myself and our community,” said Chen. “We gave our all to The Phillipian, and I only hope that we are leaving it in slightly better condition than it was a year ago.”

Sara Luzuriaga ’16, former Arts and Leisure Associate, will succeed Chen as Editor in Chief.

“Sara is incredibly kind, smart, humble and strong. She effortlessly earns the respect of everyone in the room with her grace and intelligence,” said Chen. “Knowing that The Phillipian will be in her capable hands has been considerable consolation as we try to accept that we’re actually leaving.”

“We have a huge responsibility as a board to fill the high expectations that Jamie and CXXXVII set for us. They published great papers each week, even in the face of socially and culturally challenging situations. I’m so excited for the year to come, and I hope to lead as strongly and elegantly as Jamie did,” said Luzuriaga.

From Upper Management, Phoebe Gould ’15, Managing Editor, Ryan Brigden ’15, Managing Editor, and Eleanor Blum ’15, Chief Operating Officer, will also hand down their keys to the newsroom.

CXXXVIII will feature three Managing Editors instead of two. Avery Jonas ’16, former Copy Associate, Erica Shin ’16, former News Associate and Skylar-Bree Takyi ’16, former Commentary Associate, will succeed Brigden and Gould.

“I’m currently spending as much time as possible with Erica, Avery and Sky because after turnover they won’t be seeing the light of day very often,” said Gould, whose “Turnover Resolutions” are to resurrect her social life, take up knitting and rival Blum in the game of golf.

Instead of a Chief Operating Officer, CXXXVIII will include an Executive Digital Editor, Pranav Tadikonda ’16, former Sports Associate, and a Chief Financial Officer, Haley Avery ’16, former Advertising Associate.

As Executive Digital Editor, a position added to Upper Management this year, Tadikonda will assume responsibility of all the multimedia content of The Phillipian. He will work to incorporate digital media into each section in order to enhance the online and digital aspects of the paper.

“I’m very pleased that Pranav will be consumed with the task of guiding the paper into the digital era—both for the faith I have in his vision and the boost I anticipate his sleep deprivation will give me on the golf team ladder,” said Blum, who plans to use her free time to “make [her] own money so [she] can spend it how [she] likes.”

Avery will lead the Business Board as the Chief Financial Officer. She will serve as the head of sales and relations, manage the financial side of the paper, handle subscription drives and spearhead business initiatives that will enhance the paper as both a brand and a business.

“Haley’s resilience, savvy and leadership have shone through triumph and trial throughout her record-breaking associateship and proven her ability to push the business further along its impressive trajectory,” said Blum. “I am so proud of the progress we made as a Business Board, and trust that Haley will oversee many more achievements in her tenure.”
Former News Associates Roshan Benefo ’16, Bennett Michaels ’16 and Haley Suh ’16 will replace Rani Iyer ’15, EJ Kim ’15, Chris Li ’15 and Madeleine Mayhew ’15 as News Editors of The Phillipian.

“Enjoy your time in the newsroom to the fullest. It goes by really fast,” said Mayhew.
“The newsroom may be disgusting sanitation-wise, but trust me: you will be drawn to the basement of Morse subconsciously. I ‘borrowed’ Jamie’s keys and did my homework there on the weekends all the time,” said Kim.

Alessa Cross ’16 and Tyler Lian ’16, former Commentary Associates, will succeed Lily Grossbard ’15, Meera Patel ’15 and Grace Tully ’15 as Commentary Editors.

“I hope Tyler and Alessa are able to love the paper as much as I do and continue Commentary’s legacy as the section that brings the newsroom to its knees,” said Patel.
“The Phillipian is my all — take care of Commentary and enjoy it; it’s tough, but the end comes up behind you, fast,” wrote Grossbard in an email to The Phillipian, adding that email interviews are inferior to interviews in person.

Tiffany Bauman ’16 and Sharan Gill ’16, former Arts and Leisure Associates, will take over for Peyton Alie ’15, Charlotte Berry ’15 and Victoria Skrivanos ’15 as Arts and Leisure Editors.

“We’re so proud of and excited for our darling associates. We know that Tiffany and Sharan’s love for Arts & Leisure will help the section flourish. To our associates, remember to not write ledes with weather puns, never use the word dulcet and savor every moment because your tenure will be over before you know it,” said Alie, Berry and Skrivanos.

Former Sports Associates Victoria Bergeron ’16, Isabella Haegg ’16 and Peter Hahn ’16 will inherit the Sports Section from Kailash Sundaram ’15, Andreas Tonckens ’15 and Andrew Zheng ’15.

“We must never cede control of the motherland, for it is together that we prevail,” said Zheng.

“We’ve spent months passing down the tricks of the trade, and our little Associates are now ready to fly high and soar as Editors. I hope they fall in love with the paper like all of us have, and I hope they learn from the great example Andreas set as a Sports Editor in the newsroom — always being present,” said Sundaram.

“Never lose sight of what’s important. Take that as you will,” said Tonckens.

Lincoln Herrington ’16, former Copy Editor, will become Front Page Editor for CXXXVIII. He will oversee the content and layout of the front page of _The Phillipian_, working closely with the Copy and News Sections.

“Lincoln has so much to bring to The Phillipian — leadership, intelligence, humor and maturity. It has been an honor to work with him over the past two years, and I look forward to seeing him take greater charge of CXXXVIII as Front Page Editor,” said Chen.
Sayer Devlin ’16, Kyle Kingston ’16 and Olivia Michaels ’16, former Copy Associates, will take over for Herrington, Karina Keus ’15 and Justine Wang ’15 as Copy Editors.

“The best part about working for _The Phillipian_ is bonding with and finding the crazy in all these dedicated students I would not have gotten to know otherwise. I will miss the late-night dance parties, the Thursday laughs and weekly dinners with my Associates, who will carry on the Copy Section with linguistic integrity and intelligence,” said Wang.

She continued, “For the past year and a half, I have learned about success, failure, teamwork, respect, friendship, Romanesco, ‘other’ rock/rap/metal music and how to top it all with a good dosage of fun. In 50 years, _The Phillipian_ is probably what I’ll most vividly remember about my Andover education.”

Emily Anderson ’16 and Julia Lane ’17 will continue as Features Senior Associates, succeeding Jack Lane ’15, former Features Editor.

Former Layout and Design Associates Julia Donovan ’16 and Jessica Lee ’16 will replace Noah Hornik ’15 and Tom Johst ’15 as Layout and Design Editors.

“Minimalism,” said Hornik.

Nathaniel Redding ’16 will join Andy Manos ’16, former Cartooning Associate, to take over the Cartooning Section from Viviane Garth ’15 and Katie Weaver ’15.

Former Video Editor Kastan Day ’16 will become the Head of Video for CXXXVIII, working closely with the Executive Digital Editor and the Video Section to improve the videographic aspect of _The Phillipian_.

Jeffrey Lee ’16, Ian Tan ’16 and Olivia Xiong ’16, former Video Associates, will succeed Day as Video Editors.

Former Photography Associates Lauren Luo ’16 and Jessica Schmitt ’16 will inherit the Photography Section from Alex Westfall ’15 and Lucius Xuan ’15.

“It’s going to be so strange leaving our beloved corner of the newsroom where so many photos were were toned, homework assignments were finished and friendships were grown. That said, I am confident that Lauren and Jessie, with their warm and hardworking attitudes, will do a fantastic job leading the section,” said Westfall.

“The greatest part of _The Phillipian_ is how it changes you. You learn so much—about the others on the board, about yourself, and frankly, about how to work. _The Phillipian_ doesn’t leave people with much time to do other things, but they learn to let it become a part of them. _The Phillipian_ is like life, which is like a box of chocolates (shoutout to Mr. Gump): you don’t know what you’re going to get, but in the end, it’s always amazing,” said Xuan.

Former Online Editors Jamie Bloxham ’15, James Herman ’15, Alexander Jiang ’15 and Clifford Ressel ’15 will pass down the Online Section to Annette Bell ’16 and Thomas Cherukuri ’16.

Larissa Danovitch ’16, former Subscriptions Associate, will assume the position of Director of Sales. She will oversee the Advertising and Subscriptions Department, handling subscription drives and ensuring that all individuals subscribed to The Phillipian receive every edition of the paper in a timely fashion.

Former Advertising Associate Christopher Kralik ’16 will become the Director of Relations for The Phillipian. He will work closely with the Chief Financial Officer to maintain relationships with advertisers as a key part of _The Phillipian_’s revenue stream.

“The new leadership of the Business Board is structured to serve as a platform off of which the operation can grow in size and sophistication. Lara and Chris together have the vision, drive and the foundation to bring out the best in their team and continue to deliver impressive results,” said Blum.

Riku Fukumori ’16, former Advertising Associate, Samuel Kane ’16, former Subscriptions Associate, Ryan Simard ’16, former Advertising Associate, and Max Kim ’16, former Subscriptions Associate, will manage the Business Departments of Advertisements, Subscriptions, Customer Relations and Alumni Relations, respectively.

The new Business Board of CXXXVIII will replace the Advertising Manager positions, formerly held by Nolan Crawford ’15 and Eden Livingston ’15, and the Subscriptions Manager positions, formerly held by Durham Abric ’15, Conner Cameron ’15 and Billy Casagrande ’15.