A Letter from the Editorial Staff
Letter from the Editorial Staff
September 16, 2022
The Fall 2022 semester kicked off with numerous changes on campus: masks are optional, worn only by the wary few; parties are back in full swing, professors have ramped up their workload; and university officials keep trying to convince the Washington and Lee Community that everything is fine–despite the obvious pushback from alumni.
One more change has occurred this term which will ensure that everyone in the Washington and Lee Community stays up-to-date on campus happenings: The W&L Spectator has made its return, better than ever!
Student activities really suffered during the last couple years. Draconian COVID-19 policies and heavy administrational oversight discouraged and impeded events while an increasingly hostile political environment dissuaded conservative students from commenting on campus and national affairs. The temperature has since simmered and a resilient group of conservative students have come forward to take up the torch left by the recently-graduated Spectator team, whose efforts we greatly appreciate.
We are also very thankful for the faithful donors who left the publication in strong financial standing. A new year gives us new opportunities to extend The Spectator’s reach, and we have made several changes, expressed below:
We reconfigured our leadership to optimize the Spectator’s growth: Publisher Patrick France handles the presentation and uploading of new editions not just on the website, but on our numerous social media platforms. We are a student magazine, and students are best accessible on social media. Make sure to follow us there, as we also use our influence to promote other conservative events or ideas circulating campus. Treasurer Henry Haden handles our finances. He not only pays the bills and collects donations, but also oversees the production of new Spectator merchandise. Branding goes a long way to ensure our presence on campus and in the greater Washington and Lee Community. Co-editors Kamron Spivey and Drew Thompson share the responsibility of running and editing the paper. Aside from being frequent contributors in both The Spectator and other publications, they work in the campus Writing Center, providing advice to fellow students. Lending their expertise to The Spectator as co-editors, Kamron and Drew will improve the quality of each article and hone the students’ writing skill.All four officers also bring with them a network of connections which will allow The Spectator to flourish in the coming term.
We have decided to publish new editions in print, as well as online, moving forward. While this will increase our expenditures, it will also widen our audience and presence on campus.
New editions will come out every eight weeks. This allows more contributors to write and guarantees scrupulous updates on campus life. We recognize, however, that bi-monthly publications delay coverage of potentially high-profile events and news. We want our readers to stay as up-to-date as possible, and will therefore publish the occasional stand-alone article in between editions. Those articles will be found on our website and social media pages.
We are also opening up our magazine to the entire Washington and Lee Community, which we believe (even if the W&L administration does not) includes alumni and parents. Each edition will feature a couple opinions written by alumni and/or parents. We feel this not only grants them the voice they deserve as the financial lifeline of the university, but also widens the perspectives available in our magazine.
We also made some technical changes to our website and magazine.We decided to replace the word “opinion” in our motto with the phrase “civil discourse.” We are “A magazine of student thought and civil discourse” because that is exactly what Washington and Lee University needs more of; too often were potential civil discussions in the last couple of years destroyed when particular individuals refused to acknowledge anything beyond their own opinion. The W&L Spectator remains a magazine of conservative thought, but that is not to say that all conservatives think alike. We want to reflect that in a magazine that equally voices students who might call themselves more or less conservative. Our goal is to spark conversation about Spectator pieces.
Another reason for removing “opinion” from The Spectator motto is because we do not want to host exclusively opinion-based writing. New editions, like this one, will include both news and opinion. We still welcome student opinion, but we also encourage contributors to pursue other journalistic mediums.
As a reminder, we invite you to check out the archived editions on our website. Please contact us with any questions or ideas you may have, and please share this new edition with others.
Conservatively,
Kamron M. Spivey Andrew L. Thompson
Co-editor Co-editor
Patrick R. France W. Henry Haden
Publisher Treasurer