In March of 2020, the staff of The Suffolk Journal, like all Suffolk University students, received an email we will never forget. We were sent home from the school we love, our lives were upended and most importantly, we were confused.
The Journal staff who are members of the class of 2022, only sophomores at the time, did not have the luxury of a relaxing quarantine. Instead, they were instantly thrown into editorial positions that they felt ill-prepared for, covering the biggest news story of the century from their childhood bedrooms. The facts were constantly changing, and so was their ability to handle the hardship of the news cycle.
Nevertheless, the Journal never stopped.
When Suffolk was providing pandemic-related assistance to the Boston community, The Journal was on it. When SGA and Administration were also searching for the answers to COVID-19 pandemic, The Journal was there to compile it all. Our seniors were there, only weeks since beginning their training under the graduating editors.
Brighter days came, illuminated by the screens of Zoom. A news organization that was primarily print-focused went fully online. A website was redesigned to accommodate for the online era and the first-ever Suffolk Journal newsletter was created, being delivered to hundreds of inboxes every Wednesday. A fully virtual 2020-2021 school year forced our editorial group to learn courses worth of material on website design and social media marketing.
Our Tuesday night production meetings over Zoom brought together our staff from all across the country. For some, these meetings were a weekly escape from our COVID-ridden lives. Upperclassmen staff were able to create bonds with new members, with conversations lasting until ungodly hours of the night, long after the newsletter was complete.
Some nights were longer than others, the candles burning as light was shed on alleged discrimination in the athletic department , the George Floyd protests of 2020 in Boston and the 2020 election.
When we were back on campus, the now seniors were faced with producing a physical paper for the first time in almost 18 months using software that they had little to no experience with. It took several late Tuesday nights, some ending as late as 6- 4 a.m, to get Rams a paper to hold.
To the reader, the concept of a 4 a.m night in the middle of a school week may seem horrendous. But here at The Journal, those are the nights that forge friendships. Any Suffolk Journal alumni can speak to this, and name the people who they conquered these nights with.
This group of seniors led The Journal to a second place finish at the College Media Association Convention for best newspaper, second place for design, and third for best homepage.
All of this was done while managing internships, heavy class loads, jobs, and the stress of being a college student in the age of COVID-19 . No one forced these people to create 16 pages of news each week. They chose to.
To The Journal class of 2022, thank you for being our teachers, our mentors and our shoulders to cry on. Your impact on Suffolk and The Journal have been immeasurable. We can only imagine what you’ll do in the wider world, but you’ll always have a place in the office.
~ The Suffolk Journal Staff
