Micah Ernest, a junior business communication major and a member of the men’s volleyball team, will be taking the reins of The Villager starting next fall semester. Ernest has written for The Villager and has covered various topics, including men’s and women’s sports, mental health, and student life around campus.  

Jeff Browne, The Villager’s adviser, is “excited to turn The Villager over to Micah. He’s a great student and a mature communicator who played a large role this year on staff,” Browne wrote in an email.

Though with the addition of a new Editor-in-Chief, another student is moving into a different chapter in life. Leah Bayley-Hay has been the Editor-in-Chief for the past two years, and Browne had high praise for her.  

“I will greatly miss the leadership of Leah Bayley-Hay. Over the past two years, she has led the staff with equanimity, patience, and maturity. She will be a success whatever she chooses to do, wherever she goes.” 

Bayley-Hay said the experience as Editor-in-Chief helped her in her everyday life, even in the tiny details.  

“As a leader, editing for The Villager has taught me patience but also the ability to step up and make hard decisions,” she wrote in an email. “As a writer, I learned to break down everything I thought I knew about writing a story and build it back up to be the best writer I can be (and there’s always room to learn and improve). I’ve truly grown all around as a person in the last two years.”  

Bayley-Hay hands it over to Ernest, whom she described as “extremely eager to learn and has the skills and personality to take The Villager to new heights.”  

Not only did she have praise, but she had some words of advice for the new chief.  

“Lead with kindness,” Bayley-Hay wrote, “that goes for your staff, who you’re interacting with, and who you’re working alongside. You can be firm and kind at the same time, and I think that’s the key to effective leadership and getting things done.“ 

Ernest is an eager student who loves to learn and help everyone around him. When asking him about his new role as Editor-in-Chief, Ernest sounded off his optimism for the future.  

“Moving forward in the position of Editor-in-Chief, I’m really excited just to see where we can take the Villager,” Ernest said. “I think with Professor Browne’s leadership and enthusiasm for journalism, he’s helping the staff come up with some really cool ideas for content and I’m excited to get sort of a similar role.”