Editorial: We’re not done growing

With May here, it is officially graduation season for Lehigh’s class of 2022.

It is that time of year when families and friends come together to celebrate students’ educational accomplishments and when students begin to feel oh-so excited or oh-so overwhelmed by the change about to take place.

We will soon go our separate ways, but as for the seniors on The Brown and White, we will always stay connected by the words we wrote and the stories we shared.

So as this change nears, with more than half of our editorial board graduating this May and moving on to the next chapter of their lives, we can’t help but look back on our time with The Brown and White and how the paper has transformed throughout the past four years. 

A lot has changed since 2018 — especially when 2020 rolled around.

As we’re sure it did for you too, COVID-19 really threw us for a loop.

What began as two weeks away from school turned into over a year of virtual learning — which, if it wasn’t clear already, also meant remote reporting and editing.

Without any game plan as to how we would continue and though the choice to halt production presented itself, The Brown and White persisted.

Reporters worked remotely, holding phone and Zoom interviews and recounting stories from across the U.S., and around the world at the height of the pandemic. Editing took place outside of the newsroom and in the comfort of our own homes. Social media became one of our greatest assets.

Although it was a different way of doing things, it eventually became our new normal and we got better at it.

What seemed to be detrimental to our paper at that time has perhaps changed The Brown and White for the better while proving our resilience as a staff. 

In recognition of our work, The Brown and White was named a top college media outlet by the College Media Association for the 2020-2021 coverage year.

Speaking of our staff, it has grown to new sizes since the Class of 2022’s freshman year — now, with over 150 members. The paper is joined by students from an array of different majors in different schools within Lehigh. 

With the introduction of new additions to the paper, such as the Community Engagement Department and the Technology and Innovation Team, The Brown and White has gained much more insight into not only Bethlehem, but into the paper itself, in terms of what types of stories or platforms work best and creative new ways to inform our audience.

Not to mention, just this year, The Brown and White’s multimedia presence has soared, especially on Instagram and Spotify. The paper is now producing the Lehigh Insider Podcast, featuring interviews with well-known students and staff across campus every other Friday. The Brown and White’s Instagram provides weekly sports and news updates via video, along with the occasional Mountain Hawk Spotlight.

Talk about coverage.

We were there to cover the 2020 presidential election, attending former President Donald Trump’s rally when he visited the Lehigh Valley. We were there to cover the controversy surrounding Economics Professor Frank Gunter. We were there to expose a visiting math professor’s wrongdoings. 

Despite the changes it has seen, The Brown and White will always be there to give people a voice, specifically the voiceless. As the past four years have gone by, we have transitioned the paper in a multitude of ways that maximize our reach and the stories we cover, reaching a broader audience and community surrounding our campus.

So as we flip to the next pages of our lives, we will always remember the lessons we’ve learned from the paper and the importance of adapting to change. 

We have done a lot of growing — and we’re not done yet.