To Our Readers,
I would like to invite you back to our newsletter, though this time it is not weekly, nor within the academic calendar, but instead a special Christmas Newsletter. I hope that all of our readers are having a pleasant and fitting Christmas Break and are enjoying spending time with family and away from school. For those of our students who celebrate it, I hope that you are enjoying the current holiday celebrating the Nativity. Furthermore, I hope that finals went well for all of the students who read this paper. As is obvious (given that we are less than a week away from the end of the year), this newsletter will be the final one of this year, and it thus marks the end of my first calendar year as Editor-In-Chief of the Danforth Dispatch. I am very happy with the progress that we have made as a paper, as at the beginning of this year we were entirely dormant, and I am very thankful for the contributions of all of our writers in making this paper what it is. I hope to build off of our successes in the coming year and continue with the work that we have begun.
As for our immediate plans for the next year, we have a lot queued up that I am very excited about. First of all, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, our sponsor, approved our budget, and with the budget, we will acquire the necessary equipment to start a podcast to conduct interviews with various public and WashU figures. Secondly, we intend to increase our outreach and advertising to grow our paper and its impact within the community. Lastly, if the demand for it grows, we can begin printing a print issue. Beyond that, we will continue to publish as we are now but will seek to invite more guest writers and more writers on a diverse array of subjects.
Here are all of our articles from this past week, all of which relate to the Holiday Season:
“Is WashU Afraid to Say “Merry Christmas?” by Mason Letteau Stallings
“‘He Shall Reign Forever and Ever:’ Reflections on WashU’s Messiah Performance” by Wil Welch
“Midnight Mass at St. Vitus” by Mason Letteau Stallings
We would like to thank all of our readers and writers for an amazing year, and I look forward to continuing to edit the paper next year. But above all else, we would like to wish you a Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Mason Letteau Stallings