It is safe to say there was collective shock among the staff when Alexandra Yetter announced she would not be returning to the Chronicle as editor-in-chief after the Spring semester—but as editors, we were especially stunned.

Before this, we knew it was expected of us to step up and apply ourselves in a leadership role, but the thought of even applying for the editor-in-chief position felt so far out of reach.

We would be lying if we said we weren’t nervous to take on the new responsibility, but after conquering managing editor roles together and working closely with Alexandra day in and day out, we can confidently say we are ready to build on her hard work and look for new ways to help the Chronicle increase its reach to the community we’re dedicated to serve.

Although we have new ideas for the Chronicle, including cultivating ways to expand our audience engagement and using our platforms to connect with the one entity that keeps us going—our readers—we will continue what we all worked so hard to accomplish this past semester.

The Chronicle has gone through various changes, from getting more creative with our print issue layouts to introducing our “For The Record” video series, which gives an inside look into major stories we cover, and pushing to reach a wider audience by implementing a “why us, why now” mentality.

We, along with our staff of young journalists, have done this under tremendous pressure during the spring semester, working remotely from our own homes while being the source of information for the Columbia community during the coronavirus pandemic.

Inevitably, there will be more changes to come. However, with Kendall’s experience reporting on music and Arts and Culture coverage, Mari’s background in Metro and Campus content and the combined dedication of our management team, photojournalists, graphics team and our advertising crew, the fate of the Chronicle is in good hands.

This summer and fall, our editors will continue the expansion of our multimedia content with a passion for the visual aspects of journalism. Our management team includes: Director of Photography Camilla Forte, who simultaneously reports and writes stories, takes photos and leads the photographers on staff; Senior Graphic Designer Shane Tolentino, who has been hands-on in going outside of the box with front page layouts; Senior Video Editor Ignacio Calderon, who has produced substantial video content during the pandemic; and Sales Manager Cale Holder, who stepped into his role days before the campus closed, yet continued to bring in advertising for the paper.

Whether we are working remotely or socially distanced and scattered around the Chronicle newsroom, we plan to continue doing what the Chronicle has always done, which is inform students, faculty, staff and even those beyond the Columbia community.

We want to involve you, our readers, in what we cover and how we cover it. We want to continue striving to produce daily, digital content, with the hope that we will be able to deliver a print edition for you to hold and flip through soon.

We also plan to work hard to make our coverage of diversity, equity and inclusion issues a priority by holding panels, events and opening up the floor for students, faculty and staff to join us in addressing key issues or concerns on campus.

When the circumstances are right and we can safely return to campus, come visit us. See how we operate and, more importantly, communicate with us—tell us how we could improve, or even learn about how we report. As we move forward with the Chronicle, move forward with us.