As the final 2016-2017 issue of the Mirror News hits the stands here at HFC, we, the incoming editorial staff, want to say thank you to all who have cultivated its success this year. Whether you are a loyal reader waiting patiently by the stands on the morning of delivery (It’s possible!) or are flipping through it for the first time saying to yourself, “I didn’t know we even had a school newspaper,” it doesn’t matter. You’re here now, and we’re glad. After all, each of you are the reason we write.

As your school newspaper staff, it’s our desire to keep you informed of what is happening on campus and in our community, as often as it relates to larger national and global issues. We wish to celebrate the creative and passionate talents reflected in our student body and encourage you to check out what cool things others are doing nearby.

We want to initiate thoughtful and challenging discussion that will stretch all of our comfort zones, as well as our understanding of one another. You are invited to share ideas and reflections with us, and can find submission guidelines below. We welcome more seats to the table and desire to continue to expand and diversify our voice.

This year, we had dedicated and passionate leaders who inspired staff to increase awareness and to think deeply and objectively when presenting facts. Thank you to Editor in Chief, Bashair Pasha and the entire 2016-2017 editorial team, Matthew Walke, Amanda Chatila, Josh Abeare and Fatima Nkata, who now serves as the 2017-2018 editor-in-chief, for using your experience, humor and creative ideas to encourage new writers. Thank you to our graphic artists, Zainab Saleh and Parrish Broadnax for helping us look good. As a student led and staffed newspaper, we appreciate the instruction and available guidance of Journalism Instructor, Dr. Peter Kim, Graphic Instructor, Victoria Shepherd, Faculty Liaison, Cassandra Fluker and Co-op Supervisor, Jason Davis. We also thank each and every one of our freelance student journalists, photographers and videographers for their meaningful contributions. Under this structure, the Mirror News was celebrated with 21 awards at the Michigan Community College Associated Press conference this April.

We are proud to have a newsroom where every voice is heard and thankful to have a diverse community of students and staff to share stories about.

We also take this opportunity to thank the college administration for their continued support in ensuring that The Mirror News remains a safe platform for students to nurture their passion for journalism and freely exercise their First Amendment rights. In that vein, to ensure that the publication remains, in the full sense of the term, student led, and to ensure that the student body, as represented by the Mirror News Student Newspaper Board, are allowed input in the administrative structure of the publication, we implore the college administration to honor our request to hold off unilaterally implementing any changes during this transitional period to the structure of the paper that could potentially have adverse effects on the recruitment and training of our editors and subsequently the quality of our content. Until we return for the fall semester, we wish you all a great summer. Sleep in when you can, read that book you haven’t had time for, squeeze in a vacation someplace away from the norm. We’ll see you back here in September, refreshed and renewed to tackle studies, and discuss and read the news.