Changing Roles Not Direction

In August of 2006, I took the job as Advertising Manager at The Carolinian without experience or knowledge of the newspaper business. The first few months proved to be slow, if not declining. With weekly ad sales income at half the rate they should have been, I knew that our method needed to change. Pursuing a degree in Communication Studies, I believed business was a lot less about numbers and much more about relationships. Instead of using numbers as a guide for progress or a framework to build a vision upon, I decided to place the weight of our business on building relationships with all clients, from national ad agencies to university departments. It did not take long under the umbrella of Chris Lowrance, then Executive Editor, to pick up the ins and outs of selling and maintaining advertising for the paper.

In May of 2007, I increased my commitment to The Carolinian by assuming the role of Publisher. During the past year and half at the paper, I have worked with the editorial and business staff, university departments and local businesses to continue building our independent student newspaper. I am especially pleased to see our distribution spread into the campus residence halls, our sponsorship of several departmental programs including the Empty Bowls project through the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and increased reader participation seen through ‘letters to the editor’ and reader feedback on The Carolinian website.

However, with new opportunities opening up through an internship and volunteer work in the community, I decided that I should carry out my continued commitment to The Carolinian through a different role. Effective this month, I will no longer serve as Publisher of The Carolinian. During this time of transition, I would like to support Natasha Lake, the young woman hired to continue in the tradition of leading the independent campus newspaper. Ms. Lake offers the competence and vision that I believe The Carolinian needs at this time. Her previous work and volunteer experience extends into working with various university departments and community leaders to bring the voice of under-represented groups to the surface. Her initiation and determination proved successful in The King Campaign, an organization she built and now presides over. With several years of background in writing and journalism, her visionary voice, I believe, will easily be seen in her future with The Carolinian. I encourage the Editorial and business staff, the university and local community to support her endeavors at The Carolinian, as long as they continue to promote just and equal rights to speech and coverage.

To the university body, I hope that you have felt heard and supported by The Carolinian during my time of leadership. I know that we have not been faultless, as we are still human. I hope that those who feel unheard will continue to petition their voice. I hope that those who feel left out of the process will remember that their voice still matters. I believe wholeheartedly that the university is the breeding grounds for innovation and change. It was on the university campus that four young black men stood up to injustice by taking a seat at a segregated lunch counter. It was on a university campus that thousands of students protested against war and violence to see the end of an unjust war in Vietnam. In this present day, the university campus has the ability to affect progress and protect democracy for future generations. This mantle however comes with much negative pressure. At this time, there is no greater importance than protecting yourself from the forces of indifference and mediocrity. I encourage you to resist these pressures by using The Carolinian as a vehicle for change. Those of you who are fighting indifference or mediocrity, I’d like to remind you of the central message of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama: We are the change we’ve been waiting for. If your voice is under-represented, apply pressure. If you disagree with the leadership, get involved. This campus newspaper is not about passing information from one channel to the next. We desire to create an experience for each reader in a unique way but it requires your participation. At the core, this student newspaper is wasting its time and your time if there is no real experience or change. Continue writing letters to the editor and leaving your feedback online but I encourage you to take it one-step further. Apply to be an editor here for the fall 2008 semester, run for student government, volunteer at the homeless shelter or tutor a child at an outreach facility. I assure you, that while I may no longer be acting as the Publisher of The Carolinian, I will continue serving the Greensboro community to the best of my ability. My hope is that in whatever way you choose to serve, the positive advancement of the community is in your heart. I believe The Carolinian will have the same goal and together, we will see this university and community positively changed in the years to come.