Louisa Carter was the former Editor in Chief (EIC) of The Phillipian Vol. CXLVII. Prior to her role as EIC, Carter wrote for The Eighth Page which she joined in her Freshman Year. The Phillipian was Carter’s first experience with journalism; she is also passionate about ceramics and used to row for Andover’s Crew team.
What introduced you to the Phillipian?
I initially joined The Phillipian on a whim. A freshman girl in my dorm, Mary Lord [’24], was on the eighth page, and she [told me], ‘you should join, it’s so much fun, you’ll be great at it.’ I was not funny at all, but I thought it was going to be easygoing and so I joined. I was honestly looking for something fun to do. When I came to Andover, a lot of things I did at home, at middle school, that brought me joy didn’t translate into my life at Andover in the same ways. I just joined it as something I thought would be really fun and make me happy. I never necessarily had goals of doing any serious journalism, I didn’t even understand how The Phillipian worked.
How was the adjustment from your role in the Eighth Page to being the EIC?
It’s funny because a lot of people assume that The Eighth Page to the [Editor in Chief] route was a huge jump. In some ways it was, but also on The Eighth Page, you [have to] think about if a joke is okay to publish, who it will be impacting, [and] who we are representing. Also there have been articles at the Eighth Page that have been far more critical of people and things at Andover than even other Commentary articles. It’s something you’re very cognizant of, just the politics of the paper, which is a big part of being Editor in Chief. In a lot of ways just looking at how we are representing the students, what changes are the students looking for, [and] student relationships with the administration.
If you could have dinner with a famous person, dead or alive, what would it be?
I’ve had Ms. Foushee as my English teacher for five terms at Andover and she has fundamentally really changed the way I understand English and been one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. The first term of this year was based on Virginia Woolf, and my class had such interesting conversations about it, about her novels, and especially Mrs. Dalloway. That was one of my favorite [books], and so I would actually like to have a conversation with her. But actually I want her to be in my classroom. I wouldn’t just want it to be one-on-one, I would want her to be in my classroom.
What particularly interested you about Ms. Foushee’s Women Literature class?
In our current political climate, there’s just a heightened sense, especially amongst girls, of what it means to be a woman right now [and] being taken seriously. That’s something that I know I feel, and I know a lot of my friends feel. How can you be taken seriously right now when the current administration does not respect women? Being in this class, we talked a lot about what it means to have autonomy as a woman, what it means to choose the life that you want, and not necessarily have external forces dictate what you are capable of and what’s possible. That was what was so great about being in that class. It felt like my opinions and my beliefs were taken so seriously by my classmates in a time where that is rare.
Reflecting on your time as Editor in Chief, how was your experience?
I have said this to so many people, it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me at Andover and I’m so lucky to have had the experience. Being involved on the paper on any level really gives you this level of awareness and interest in the greater Andover community [and] an understanding of what’s going on and seeing beyond the immediate scope of your life here. It was a really great experience for me too to understand the impact of local journalism. The impact it has on the community and the voice it gives to students, and when you want to enact change, the change that has been made on campus, a lot of times The Phillipian has a big role in that. Being a part of something bigger than me in that sense is just something I will always really appreciate.
What other commitments or hobbies do you have outside the Phillipian?
Something that I’ve actually done forever is work at a ceramics studio in the summer. I’ve done this since I was 14, and I just work full time in the summers. I teach camps, I teach adults, and I also run all the kilns and stuff. It’s something I’ve always been into doing and I’m actually lucky enough right now to be in Mr. Zaeder’s last term of ceramics since he’s retiring. That’s something that I do, and being part of that community, is also what drove me to the Phillipian. The ceramics studio is very eclectic, it has a lot of people who just retired and are bored, or parents who are having a break from their kids or college kids who are looking for extra money so they sell their stuff. It is such an interesting community, [and] that’s partially what drew me to other places on campus like The Phillipian.
Do you feel like there’s parallels between that, trying to manage a group of kids during summer and also like any parallels with the phillipian that transfers over?
No one in The Phillipian is like those 12 year old boys who are springing water at me and throwing clay, but I would say a lot of those kids you get on those camps are really different. You’re going to get kids that are super quiet and kids who are really quirky people. What it taught me is being able to make those relationships and get along with people who are really different from you. They are a lot younger than me so it’s super different from The Phillipian, but I didn’t know a lot of people when I came into The Phillipian and now so many people who were in the newsroom [are] people who I’m really close friends with, so that’s part of what it taught me.
Did you experience any personal growth while in The Phillipian?
At Andover, there aren’t a lot of student-driven spaces where understanding the world, politics and also what’s going on within the Andover community is really valued and [you’re] able to have discussions about that. When I joined the eighth page, I was in the newsroom more, and I was meeting new people, not just people on The Eighth Page. It really struck me as this is the space where that kind of dialogue and disagreement is really encouraged and valued and your ability to participate in that is really recognized. That’s what made me really continue doing The Phillipian because that was something I never necessarily had thought to be required of me and asked of me, and that was a very rewarding experience.
Were there any specific moments that you remember where you felt accomplished?
There were a bunch of articles that we had throughout the year, especially in the fall, where we tried to do a lot more hard news articles. We did an anti-racism task force follow-up, [and] a lot of reporting on the school’s role in educating students on the conflict in Israel and Palestine. We also did some editorials that were pretty forceful and gave voice to some of the students’ opinions and hopes for the administration. I’m proud of those because something that nobody tells you [when] you take on a leadership role in something like The Phillipian, [is that] it’s really scary. It feels like there are so many people who are always going to disagree with you and you’re never going to be making everyone happy, and that’s a really hard thing to deal with. We worked so hard on those articles and really made sure that they were foolproof and factual. That was just such a great feeling because I knew they were done well. Inevitably, some of them enacted change in a way that I was really proud of.
Are there things that you feel like you didn’t finish, or are hoping that the next board continues in the future?
A lot of the work at The Phillipian that Upper Management does is very much behind the scenes. A lot of it is policy work. For example, a lot of articles in The Phillipian were published online during a time where the internet wasn’t what it is now, and everything wasn’t as successful as it is now. So really rethinking how we ethically handle this and making sure that people don’t write an article when they’re 15-16 and then facing repercussions for it now that they have a professional job.
