Your World Today Commentary: The Slate looks back at a year of reporting

What a year!

We returned to the newsroom in August after a months-long physical hiatus caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. While some of us remained remote, we worked together to continue our mission of serving the Shippensburg University community with vital news, information and entertainment.

This year was like no other and was difficult at times. But the difficulty offered us an opportunity to grow. Our Sports Section adapted from game recaps to feature-focused content, telling a variety of stories of past and current Raiders. Arts and Entertainment and Ship Life covered virtual events and sometimes had to think outside of the box in coverage.

There was no shortage in campus, local and regional news this year, keeping our staff quite busy. Our reporters continued to tell the stories of those in our community, and I could not be prouder of our team.

This year’s Slate staff faced a variety of challenges, many of which were out of our control. But we overcame them and produced 21 editions and two special inserts accompanying the editions. (One of which is in this paper.)

We won seven Keystone Media Awards and received campus recognition for the 2020-21 Exemplary Student Group. And while we do not work for the awards and accolades, they are a nice way of encouraging the staff while also gaining recognition in the community

On behalf of The Slate staff, I would like to thank our readers and community for their support. We thank you for reading our newspapers and visiting theslateonline.com. The Slate provides our students a place to gain real-world experience to prepare for the professional world post-graduation.

Thank you to our seniors, who we wish the best of luck to as they enter the professional world. Next year’s staff will continue to carry on their legacy and the legacy started in 1957 by the first Slate staff.

Noel Miller will take the reins for the 2021-22 academic year as editor-in-chief, as most of our staff continues in their positions next year.

We will continue to produce content over the summer on our website and social media pages and will be back in print when students return to campus in the fall.