Throughout high school I dreaded any writing assignments and would have much rather been in a music class or doing just about anything else with my time. Coming into college I would never expect to be doing it voluntarily or involving myself with any form of school paper.

It wasn’t until this past fall semester in Journalism I that my eyes were opened to the storytelling possibilities of journalism and I gained a newfound love for writing. After two years at Stevenson I was also finally made aware that we had a school publication, which is exactly what I hope to change within the next year.

My name is Micah Ernest and I was recently selected for the position of 2023-2024 Editor-in-Chief for our school publication, The Stevenson Villager.

The Villager has been publishing stories for 75 years and has been online-only since 2015, but it wasn’t until recent years under previous editor-in-chief Leah Bayley-Hay and Communication Department Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Browne that the publication found new life and started expanding.

This year The Villager published more stories and broadened its content to podcasts from The Villager Voice and digital media stories through The Villager Video.

Next year, I want to continue that trend and help The Villager become a larger part of life here at SU.

Some of my ideas include generating more regular sports coverage through writers dedicated to a particular sport. Journalists would cover a team throughout their season, reporting on games and other important news. There will even be opportunities to travel with the team to away games for coverage.

I also want to grow our news coverage by reporting national news in a localized fashion through interviews on campus to capture the perspectives of Stevenson students and faculty. Our world is constantly evolving and The Villager can be a source of keeping the student body informed.

To further expand our coverage, building the multimedia portions of The Villager will be a focus of mine to give students a choice to enjoy content in their preferred method.

The most important aspect to remember about The Villager is that it is a student publication. We want to publish content created by students, for students, about what students really care about.

As a student publication, it’s imperative that we represent all demographics here at Stevenson. I want The Villager to reflect the diverse voices and perspectives on campus.

Additionally, I want The Villager to publish the highest quality pieces possible and operate as closely to a professional publication as we can. This means taking the time to go out and conduct interviews with important stakeholders and obtaining difficult information, all while adhering to a code of ethics.

The Villager has potential to be a creative hub at Stevenson and I encourage anyone interested to give journalism a try and reach out to see how you can become a contributor for the publication.

With many Villager staff members graduating this semester, we’re looking to fill the following positions with students dedicated to creating great journalistic stories for our community:

News Editor – Capture important and timely stories as they happen from a local campus level all the way up to international issues and how they affect students, faculty and Stevenson families.

Features Editor – Dive into telling the story of an individual here at Stevenson or in the community who deserves some recognition and help edit submissions to best capture communicate the individual.

Sports Editor – Stay up to date on all 29 varsity sports here at SU and edit content informing the student body on how the ‘Stangs are faring in the world of athletics.

Multimedia/Digital Content Editor – Preferably a film and moving image student interested in building the Villager Voice and Villager Video by editing, creating, and/or producing content in the video and podcast spaces.

Staff Photographer – Help provide visuals to go along with written stories and capture breaking news through a lens.

Designer/Social Media Manager – Build The Villager’s brand through social media posts and other digital content to update the community on what we’re publishing.

Anyone interested in joining The Villager staff or with a story they think deserves to be heard, reach out to [email protected] or [email protected] .