Now that I’ve started my senior year at Goshen College, I cannot help but reflect on the time and contributions I’ve given to The Record. With this reflection comes a critique.

A year ago, Carmen Merino wrote a letter to the editor, voicing her disappointment in the editorial staff and communication department over the misrepresentation of minority students. 

Merino calls out the glaring pattern within the leadership application process. You would expect such a forewarning letter would encourage future executives to always be inclusive in each article they write. However, this was set on the backburner when it came to representing The Record as a whole.  

On the last layout night of the semester an article named “A night at layout” was published. I remember listening to editors exclaim and create ideas for the article. I was intrigued to see the process as they mentioned it would be a photo essay. 

I remember helping out with a page when I was asked to pose for a photo. I smiled, next to my peers with glee. This is what layout night was, a time for any student to create one fleshed out newspaper. 

The next day I picked up the last issue, and felt alienated. The photo I smiled for wasn’t included in the essay.

At first I felt disappointed, and then quickly spiraled into questioning myself. On that day I wrote in my sketchbook,“Where am I? Hello? Why am I not represented? Why do I feel this way?” I have the tendency of writing whatever I feel onto paper. 

Maybe they were saving me the embarrassment of a bad smile, or maybe I closed my eyes in the photo. I never asked what happened to that photo, nor did I ask why I wasn’t included. I didn’t want to seem selfish for wanting to be a part of a photo collage. 

Many students of color contribute in the newsroom on Wednesdays — editing photos, designing illustrations, graphics, layouts, writing and editing articles. Maybe it was too much of an effort to take photos during this busy environment so they held off till the last minute. 

I do have to admit they weren’t wrong; the editors who truly stayed past 10 p.m. were the editors featured in the photo essay. It’s just disappointing that within a span of two layout nights, the only featured staff asked to contribute were white. 

I don’t hold resentment toward the editors for their decisions but hope they reflect on who is featured. If you do a feature of a layout night, who exactly is there each night? Is it actually news worthy to showcase the layout night on the news section? 

This is the reason I decided to apply for the executive editor position. I wouldn’t want another student to feel how I felt during layout night: excluded, alone and left wondering if they truly belonged. 

And just what Jakyra Green  ’24 and Mariela Esparza ’24 said in their last editorial, it’s about showing the possibility that other students of different backgrounds can be in this position. This applies to not just students of color but to international students, students with disabilities, commuters, and students who aren’t majoring in journalism or communication. 

I believe that if you truly care about the newspaper, your peers, GC staff, accuracy and storytelling, you are capable of being an executive co-editor. 

One way or another, you were bound to see my face again. Not on the front page — but cemented in Record history.