2020 tested us as never before. After a year of uncertainty, loss, and grief, we look towards 2021, which will arrive in just a few hours.
But 2020 also taught us the meaning of resolve, tenacity, and community. Upon evacuating campus in March, we decided to keep publishing daily, despite the vast challenges that COVID-19 posed. Over the nine months that followed, our staff have risen to the occasion in incredible ways.
Time and again, our colleagues’ work — and the community we’ve shared — have inspired and sustained us. You can read more about our efforts this year here.
For the five of us, our time at The Daily Princetonian is drawing to a close. Tomorrow, the 145th Managing Board will formally commence — and we couldn’t be more excited to see what our younger colleagues accomplish in the year ahead.
We wanted to write you one last time tonight. In 2020, the ‘Prince’ published more than 1,000 pieces of content. It’s our pleasure to share five articles that especially touched us below.
The content showcased here comprises a tiny sliver of what we’ve done. But these five pieces capture essential aspects of the year we endured together: supporting one another through the pandemic, fighting for equity and justice, and appreciating the very fact that we are here.
Thank for your ceaseless and generous support of the ‘Prince.’ Happy New Year!
Warm regards,
Ben, Cy, Ivy, Lizzie, and Jon Managing Editors and Editor-in-Chief, 144th Managing Board
Two months into a pandemic that has today killed one of every 800 Black Americans, COVID-19 had already exacted a horrific toll on communities of color. On the 15th anniversary of her mother’s passing, Rachel Kennedy argued that all Americans must stand up for Black lives — and dismantle the systemic racism of which COVID-19’s disproportionate effects are only a symptom.
With courage and resolve, Rachel argued, “But now that these widespread inequalities have been brought (yet again) to mainstream attention, widespread affirmation of Black life must follow.” Her prescient words anticipated the national reckoning against racial injustice that would follow less than two months later. —Jon
The pandemic has forced us to reimagine the community we, as the paper of record, are serving and how we are serving them. This piece foregrounds the struggles of undocumented residents living beyond FitzRandolph Gate and the strength of a community pulling together to aid a vulnerable population.
Without our campus to ground us in the Princeton community and confront us with the challenges that our neighbors are facing, this story is a reminder that what is out of sight should not be out of mind. —Ivy
This summer had no shortage of big news, from the University’s fall plan announcements to the removal of Woodrow Wilson’s name from the School of Public and International Affairs. Marie-Rose Sheinerman was on the case.
Her coverage of the controversy around Classics Professor Joshua Katz is an invaluable touchstone for understanding the campus conversation around free speech, anti-racism, and how we move forward to make a better campus for all of us. I couldn’t be prouder of her and the entire news team for the public service they provide. —Ben
Evelyn Doskoch, Assistant News Editor, Alex Gjaja, Assistant Features Editor, and Kenny Peng, Head Digital Transition Editor
In a year of fervent student activism, this retrospective chronicling the arduous journey undertaken by Sally Frank ’80 to bring coed Bicker to the all-male eating clubs feels familiar indeed. Frank’s eventual success, aided by dozens of other women, and the struggle leading to it are striking reminders of Princeton’s divided history and the ongoing activism of its students.
Though Princeton has come a long way since the early days of coeducation, lessons from activists of the 1980s echo the work of countless student activists fighting to implement anti-racist reforms, pushing for divestment from fossil fuels, and calling to introduce programs featuring underrepresented groups and subjects such as an American Sign Language and an Indigenous Studies department, among other efforts. —Lizzie
Through beautiful prose and illustrations, Anna McGee captured the heartache and struggle that all of us, in one way or another, have felt this past year. Her piece brought me to tears (a few times), and the example of collective healing she took from “Hamilton” gives me hope for a restorative new year. —Cy
