In Spring 2011, Tatiana Schlossberg became Editor-in-Chief of The Yale Herald. On January 18 of that year, for the first issue of the semester, she published this Letter from the Editors.
Welcome to the future! 2011 is just one of those years we never thought would actually come, and we are sad to say that it might be our last full year on planet Earth if the Mayans have anything to say about it. With the apocalypse breathing heavily down our collective neck, our end-of-the-world New Year’s resolution was this: Be the only ones to survive the end of the world. It will require force, it will require cunning, but we’ll certainly have the last laugh. See you in heaven.
But as the clock struck midnight, we realized that we should have a resolution more directly related to the business of journalism: To make the Herald the best it has ever been, to speak truth to power, but also to lie sometimes if it’s funny. Sorry.
But this whole best-and-brightest thing ain’t gonna be easy. We are coming on on the heels of an incredibly successful semester, during which time Starship Herald was steered with remarkable dexterity by Henry Grabar Sage, MC ’12. We will miss his wit and his uncanny Michael Jackson impersonation, but most of all we will miss his editorial sagacity. We wish him luck and continued success as a French major.
We’re sure you know, if you’re reading this, that the Herald has a long history (25 years long this February, we might add) of uncovering and discovering the hidden truths and quirks of Yale and the world outside its hallowed halls. From the end of the Teacher Prep program to the trials and tribulations of Colonial Williamsburg, the Herald brings you the news you won’t see anywhere else. We’ve got a nose for controversy and an even bigger nose for cultural relevance. And we’re the only publication with two noses.
The Herald exists and the Herald matters because some ingenious Yale students, 25 years ago, thought there was another story to tell; that Yale students needed a different outlet that gave them the freedom to write what they wanted, and the chance to experiment with their voice and their style.
And though I may be the tiger-mother, senselessly forcing my proverbial children to write their stories and tears wordlessly fall onto their keyboards, the same is true today. In those dark and cruel winter months when the Northeast literally tries to suck the will to live out of your body, isn’t it time you found a group of people who wanted to hear what you had to say, and wanted to help you find the best way to say it? If that doesn’t warm your heart and soul, you must have been born without both.
Write for the Herald. Read the Herald. Hold us to our word—we won’t disappoint you.
With Love,
Tatiana Schlossberg and the whole Herald team.
