Dear Northern Vermont University – Lyndon,
Spring 2020 has been a semester that has taken the whole world by storm, and especially our beautiful campus in the Northeast Kingdom. I write to you today to say that together, as a community, we have survived and we will continue to do so. Whether it is a global pandemic or financial hardship, NVU-Lyndon has a way of sticking together through it all. I am happy to have joined your loving, supportive community, and hope to continue to serve you all well as Editor-in-Chief of The Critic for the upcoming 2020-2021 academic year.
As I reflect on the past year, I find that I cannot express how proud I am of our The Critic staff in words. Our club, this newspaper, was revived in the fall of 2017 after it faded into the background. Since then, we have risen back to the top, winning Club of the Year 2020 this year. Not only did we accomplish such an achievement, but on top of classes, jobs, and personal life, our staff brought to you coverage of school events, student stories, the four-school system, and the Vermont State Colleges System financial hardship and decision making. We started publishing more niche, editorial content for entertainment and student expression. These are not little things, but time-consuming projects that we completed as a team, and I am so proud of our staff members and contributors.
This year, with this article, our 19 writers, artists, and photographers published 100 articles online! We held thirteen club meetings (about half over Zoom conference calling) throughout the academic year. This growth is something I expected, but not to the extent of what we were able to accomplish. I see a bright future for The Critic ahead of us as we continue to write, draw, and take pictures for our community. I am so proud of everything we did the year; next year is going to be bigger and better!
Traditionally, this would be the final article The Critic publishes until August or September. Traditionally, this is when the Editor-in-Chief would say “thanks” and “see you later.” While I do want to convey my thanks to you all, in light of the ongoing events of this semester, many of our members find it necessary to continue producing content over the summer. As the NVU Strong Advisory Committee continues to meet, the Vermont State Colleges System Board of Trustees move forward, and the legislature talks about funding for our institutions, The Critic deems it necessary to continue to report on these events to keep our community well informed.
Thank you, everyone, for your support throughout 2019-2020. I cannot wait for the summer to take us at full force and for the 2020-2021 year to start!
Sincerely,
Alexandra Huff
Editor-in-Chief, The Critic