Dear Readers, 

It is a bittersweet reality that Issue 29 is the last print issue we will produce this academic year. In reflecting back on all 29 issues we’ve produced, we are proud to say this past year has brought about many welcomed changes at the Vermont Cynic. 

Our editors worked hard to bring back print issues this spring and we remain committed to providing this medium for many years to come. 

While some say print is a thing of the past, we feel that filled newsstands symbolize our presence on campus in a way our website never will. 

The disruption to the longstanding tradition of printing resulted from the impacts of the early stages of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We are immensely proud as a collective staff to have effectively brought print back to campus. 

For those of you reading this in our physical paper, we hope you value how special it is to be able to hold Cynic content in your hands just as much as we do. 

Still, there is much more that goes into what we do than the mediums we utilize for our content. In addition to reviving print, we also began some other projects that hadn’t been done before.  

This year, the Cynic started to increase coverage focused on sharing the stories of historically marginalized groups. Our outgoing Editor-in-Chief dedicated a significant portion of our content to Black History Month coverage in February. 

As incoming leaders, we hope to not only continue this tradition, but also to expand this kind of dedicated coverage to other times of the year, including Hispanic Heritage Month, Indigenous People’s Month and Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. 

As a newsroom composed of 90.1% white students, we are often very ignorant of the issues students in various affinity spaces experience. 

This means we sometimes make mistakes. But we will learn from these mistakes and ensure they don’t happen again. 

As the voice of all UVM students, we cannot shy away from any stories. It’s our job to educate ourselves and use our knowledge to better serve the student body.

The publication of our first Cynic staff-wide demographic survey will be the first of many. 

We commit to publishing accessible, up-to-date demographic surveys once each semester of this upcoming academic year in an effort to improve transparency and earn the trust of UVM community members. 

We need to be aware of the power we hold as storytellers. We also need to be honest with our readers about who is writing these stories. 

The Cynic welcomes all constructive feedback from any member of the community. We are here because we care. We are here to serve the public. 

Any UVM community member interested in getting in touch with us about how we can continue to improve in our efforts to serve the UVM community may reach out to me at [email protected]. 

Anyone interested in sharing their views on a relevant topic with our readership may submit a Letter to the Editor to the same email address for review. Any UVM affiliate interested in becoming part of our team may join through the application form linked on our website. 

Although we’ve printed our last issue of the academic year, we will have a small team of summer staffers working hard to continue to provide you with news and UVM-related content. 

“The news never sleeps” is a common saying in the world of journalism. At the Cynic, it doesn’t take summer vacations, either.  

We hope to have you on our website so you can stay up-to-date this summer and we look forward to seeing you in print again this fall. 

Sincerely, 

Ella Ruehsen 

Editor-in-Chief

Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the Vermont Cynic. Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so.

The Cynic accepts letters in response to anything you see printed as well as any issues of interest in the community. Please limit letters to 350 words. The Cynic reserves the right to edit letters for length, factual accuracy, AP Style and grammar. Please send letters to [email protected] or [email protected].