Position(s): Editorial Page Editor, Summer 2022, Winter 2022/Fall 2023 Opinion Senior Editor, Winter 2022/Fall 2022 Opinion Columnist, Fall 2021
Section(s): Opinion
Semesters at The Daily: 5
I am an anxious person.
I was anxious when I attended my first Zoom lecture in fall 2020. I was anxious when I first came to the University of Michigan’s campus in late August 2021. I was anxious as I watched none other than Julian Coburn Barnard — then the Opinion recruitment chair — explain what working for Opinion was like. I was anxious when I filled out the columnist application, when I turned it in and when I opened Liz Cook and Joel Weiner’s email telling me I got the job.
And I was anxious on Nov. 12, 2021, when I came into the newsroom for our annual editor in chief and editorial page editor elections.
I was the only columnist there — and I wasn’t a long-term columnist who knew the editors well, I was just a little guy. I sat down at the Opinion desk and then EPE Liz asked who I was. After I told her, she said, “Omg I love your writing!”
That’s what she said. That’s the first thing she thought to say, this person who I had never actually met. She just said a nice thing, because why not? She probably doesn’t even remember saying it. But that was all I needed. I knew I belonged there and I haven’t doubted it since.
When I went to elections on Nov. 17, 2023, columnist attendance was considerably higher; two years of Julian, Shubs Giroti, Jamie Murray, Zhane Yamin and others (including me, I guess) trying desperately to make Opinion a welcoming and social place had paid off. I sat there, surrounded by my friends — from Opinion and from throughout The Michigan Daily — and I wasn’t anxious. I was happy.
Of course, most of this goodbye is going to be me thanking those friends. Abbie and Dana thank you for staying up until 2 a.m., for not being mad when Julian doesn’t fill out Push4Copy, for reformatting all of our quotes, for the occasional sassy Copy note and for all of the delightful chats whenever I decide to waltz over to the other side of the newsroom. Sophie and Abby, thank you for being the reason people read Opinion content, for all of the icebreakers and for not making fun of me for being scared of print. Mondays are stressful but it’s always so exciting to come into the newsroom and hang out with Design.
To the EiCs, MEs and DMEs I’ve worked with: You all impress me every day. I simply could not do what you guys do; I would combust. Paige, I remain your biggest fan. Vanessa, you are one of the hardest working people I have ever met — and you’re still so nice, despite all of that stress. Kate and Shannon and Julia and Zoe, the amount of raw chaos you had to deal with this year in particular (including a fair bit from my own lovely section) is staggering, but every time something happened you were all right there, ready to help. I don’t know how you did it.
I don’t know where to give Irena and Miles their rightfully-earned shoutouts, so here we are. I won’t have any authority over Editboard meetings but you both will always be welcome — just don’t give your opinion.
Thank you to Shubs for being a fundamentally good person — the kind of person you meet and think, “That is a good person.” Shubs taught me everything I know. He taught me how to talk to columnists, how to talk to Julian, how to become friends with people outside my little Opinion section bubble. He taught me how to edit and how to be kind while doing it.
To Alex, the EPE Who Never Was, we would’ve done great. I still haven’t recovered from you leaving the section and neither have your columnists.
Looking forward, it’s clear to me that Lindsey and Zhane are going to be the greatest EPEs of all time. They are two of the most thoughtful and intelligent people I have met. Their columnists love them, and they can get to a core argument and tweak it in the most productive, helpful, non-accusatory way — it’s impressive. They’re committed to the content, to The Daily and, most importantly, to the people who make up the Opinion section.
I was Lindsey’s first senior editor; I read her first column and knew that she was destined to be EPE. Seeing her grow as a columnist and then working with her as a senior editor and then our deputy has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my time at The Daily.
Julian. What a guy. He knows so many things and he has so many opinions. I hate how often I learn from him and I hate even more how often I agree with him.
Working and being friends with Julian is so humbling because he is good at all of the things I am not. It’s why we work so well together. He can tell people no, he can babble on at Editboard when no one wants to talk and he can engage with the ideas our columnists are trying to write about in ways that I just can’t. He sees the bigger picture. He knows about professional, good journalism and is constantly working to bring that to the section. He, more than anyone I’ve ever met, sees the work we are doing as real and necessary — and that keeps me going when tensions are high. And he’s been doing all of that for two years. As much as his inability to properly fill out Push4Copy frustrates me, I wouldn’t have been able to do this job without his help.
I am pretty much out of words, but I only need one more to the Opinion section: slay.