Letter From The Editor — Thank You

Two years ago, I posed a question on a dry-erase board in the Macaulay CSI lounge:

“What would you name a Macaulay newspaper?”

Septopride was a popular contender, after Macaulay’s beloved unofficial mascot; others chimed in with Crimson, The Macaulian, The Macaulay Web, Campus Connection, and The MacNews. Ultimately, Patrick Granata (Staten Island ’14) suggested The Macaulay Messenger, and it stuck.

With Dr. Ugoretz, Lisa Brundage, and Drew Adair’s guidance, we launched the website in April 2011. Despite the administration’s support and the interest of students willing to write for the paper, I didn’t know if it would work. I started the Messenger as a way to unite the Macaulay community by connecting our campuses, sharing news, and celebrating our successes. But who would read it? Who would care?

Yet, after a year, we’re still up and running. I’ve worked with some incredible students to make the Messenger, and (luckily!), the Macaulay community has found it good enough to read.

Our work has also been recognized nationally. This year, The Macaulay Messenger won second place in the National Collegiate Honors Council’s “Best Newsletter Contest.” I traveled to Boston in November to participate in a panel with other award recipients.

The Messenger wasn’t alone in representing Macaulay. Katie O’Donnell (CCNY ’13), Kwame Ocran (Hunter ’14), Liz Kelman (CCNY ’13), and Patryk Perkowski (Queens ’14), members of the newly formed Macaulay GA, discussed, “Deconstructing the Ivory Tower,” their paper on Macaulay student identity, to a captivated audience (Katie, Kwame, Liz, and Patryk will be discussing their paper this Friday, December 7th for those who are interested [it’s right before the Macaulay Winter Concert]).

Kaitlyn O’Hagan (Hunter ’13) teamed up with Dr. Ugoretz to showcase My Macaulay, the Macaulay student portal where they illustrated the need to create a student-tailored university website (and Dr. Ugoretz made use of one of my favorite webcomics).

Elizabeth Che (Staten Island ’13) presented her poster, “The Enhancement of Cognitive Flexibility through Aesthetic Experience,” and took first place in the behavioral sciences poster category (you can see a video of her explaining her research here). We also won the NCHC Photography Scavenger Hunt (Patryk’s photography was the reason why!).

Seeing their work stand out among the other 2000 attendees was incredible. They had been working for months on their research and presentations, while I had only registered for the conference a month before. Moreover, their support for one another was inspiring. In a way, my NCHC experience had symbolized the reasons why I had started the Messenger — to bring our students together through their interests, passions, and triumphs.

It also illustrated how The Macaulay Messenger found success — in the readers who supported it. So, on behalf of our staff — an incredibly deserved and long overdue thank you.

While we’ve accomplished a lot, I still have high hopes for the Messenger. I want us to publish more frequently, to have an increase in student engagement and feedback, and to feature content that interests you. If you have any suggestions, we’d love to hear them.

Before I start to lose our readers, I’ll end my note here. Best of luck with finals everyone!

Sincerely,
Kanika