I have spent my life moving across borders. What stayed constant was my need to understand the world around me. I have lived in eight countries, and each one taught me how to listen before I speak and how to ask better questions when the answers are unclear. That mindset brought me to journalism. That purpose brought me to The State News. And now, it brings me to you.

I am proud to serve as Editor-in-Chief of The State News for the 2025–26 academic year. But I also understand the weight of that responsibility. We are beginning this year in a moment of deep uncertainty and tension. On campus, across the country and throughout higher education, public trust is harder to earn. Facts are easier to distort. Students are asked to form opinions faster than ever, often without being given the full picture. In times like these, journalism cannot afford to stay on the sidelines.

Our newsroom is not here to echo what others say. We are here to dig deeper, to ask why, and to represent a campus that deserves honesty, complexity and care.

Last year, our reporters proved exactly what student journalism can achieve when it holds power accountable. Senior reporters Alex Walters, Owen McCarthy and Theo Scheer were named the 2024 Student Journalism Winner by the Education Writers Association for their investigation 'Inside the Nassar documents'. The same project earned first-place honors in a regional Society of Professional Journalists competition and in the Associated Collegiate Press Clips and Clicks contest. Walters also received top national placements for news writing, investigative reporting and podcasting, and was named one of the most outstanding college journalists in the country.

Their work was not just exceptional. It was essential.

We carry that legacy forward this year, with a commitment to covering this campus with urgency, empathy and depth. We will be there when students raise their voices. We will ask questions when institutions fall silent. And we will reflect what life at Michigan State really feels like, from classrooms and cafeterias to stadiums, protests and everything in between.

This year will be different, and it will be better. The State News is not just a print newspaper. We are a digital newsroom, a photo and video team, a podcast team, a social media presence, and most importantly, an uncensored voice.

We will use every platform to tell stories that move, explain and inspire. Whether it is through breaking news alerts, in-depth explainers, visual storytelling or first-person audio, we are committed to meeting readers wherever they are.

We are also creating more space for you. Our newsroom will not only report on students but listen to them. Whether it is through letters to the editor, guest articles, source calls or interviews, students across campus will have a voice in our pages. And just as we spotlight the views of the community, we will also empower our reporters to share their own insights. When done ethically and transparently, personal perspective is not a conflict. It is a contribution to deeper understanding.

At every level, we will prioritize excellence. Our standards will not be lowered for convenience or speed. From the first draft to the final headline, truth will be at the center of our work. Whether it is breaking news, in-depth features or sports coverage, we will hold ourselves to the highest expectations because that is what this community deserves.

We are not just observers. We are students too. We walk the same sidewalks. We wait in the same lines. We feel the same exhaustion, the same fears and the same sense that the future is coming fast.

So here is my promise. We will be relentless in our reporting and thoughtful in our decisions. We will take risks when the story demands it. And we will never stop asking what this campus needs from us.

Here is my ask in return. Read our work. Share your stories. Push us to grow. And if you have ever felt like your voice does not belong in a newspaper, I want you to know that it does.

We are not here to follow the story. We are here to lead it. And we are just getting started.