After four years and 48 issues of The Hill News, we are finally done, Class of 2016. By my guess, that is around 3,168 articles and 960 photos, all of which were produced by us, the students of St. Lawrence University. We did it for no academic credit and no paycheck, just because we loved it. Congrats staff (a staff of editors, staff writers, guest writers, photographers, proofreaders, and columnists), that is gdamn amazing. We brought you the News of quad renovations, natural disasters, Tick Tock closures, global terrorism events, Tick Tock reopenings, stolen ATMs, chapels burning down, Thelmogate, and chapels reopening. We brought you Opinions on politics at SLU, politics far away from SLU, campus demographics (racial, geographical, political, you name it), squirrels and hookup culture.

You have read Features covering your single-and-ready-to-mingle peers (Bachelor/ette) of the Week began under your reign here), Dana recommendations, Titus fashun, and odes to sandwiches and coffee drinks.

We delivered you exclusive Arts & Entertainment interviews with Springfest bands, took you behind the-scenes at dance showcases and art exhibitions, reviewed four years of Java shows and any Grace Potter news we could get our hands on.

We brought you the news of squash taking nationals, Coach Carvel’s departure and Coach Morris’s arrival, profiled our NCAA triple jump champion, and extolled our favorite athletes and teams, both college-level and pro.

Today is our final delivery from the eight senior editors on our THN staff. On Page #, your words are compiled to be archived forever. We, and you too, wrote The Hill News. This year alone, under my time as Editor, student journalism has taken massive strides. The Hill News, The Underground, The Laurentian Magazine, The St. Lawrence Review and others welcomed the Odessey and HerCampus to our ranks. The writers of SLU are expanding our voices online and in new mediums. Regardless of reactions and feelings toward these platforms (ask me of mine and I will surely let you know), it is an undeniably exciting time for budding journalists on this campus.

This is big. But, in the midst of all this digital change and no matter what, print journalism at St. Lawrence has persisted and continues to thrive. For 105 complete academic years, The Hill News has sat in printed stacks across campus each Friday, produced always entirely by your peers and our students. Welcome, year 106.

Last week, The Hill News was awarded First Place in the category of General Excellence in the New York Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, which compares the newspapers of all New York State (and City) colleges. The category measures article topics, written artistry, objective balance, writing and editorial style, graphic and page design, circulation, advertisements, photography, clarity, and even more. In addition, we also won Third for Design.

This achievement would never have been possible without the group we have built within the office and the support we have garnered outside of it. Our editors laid out and proofread the articles our writers wrote utilizing quotes, information, and support from every member of the SLU community. Our managers distributed and paid for the Hill’s publication using funds allocated from other student organizations (shout out, Thelmo). Our win in General Excellence was a win for team effort and collaboration on all fronts of collegiate journalism.

So, thank you. This is our win, and it is your win. This year and the three that preceded it accidentally built toward this award simply via the work we have put in and the passions we have fed. No matter the ways in which student journalism persists at St. Lawrence in the coming years, I am certain – given our thousands of articles, hundreds of photos, dozen editors, hundredish writers, and countless readers – that we will all keep thriving.

Emma Cummings-Kreuger ‘16 Editor in Chief