Anna Arnsberger ’25 is the outgoing 114th Editor-in-Chief of The Flat Hat. Bye
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
The first article I ever wrote for The Flat Hat was about a student-led mutual aid network that provided housing for community members over breaks. The piece was relatively small, barely scratching the surface of the deep-rooted issues of housing and financial accessibility at the College of William and Mary. Still, I remember writing that article inspired by the work of the student organizers, grateful to have such a support network in my community and eager to promote this resource to a wider audience.
I don’t really have a “Why EiC moment,” as my predecessor and friend Molly Parks ’24 put it. But as I sit in my cold attic, forcing myself to be introspective (and introspective fast, so I can get this to the opinions editors at a reasonable time), I remember that first article. I remember the many stories I’ve written since, about issues such as labor organizing, undocumented students and poor housing conditions. I remember all the impactful pieces I’ve had the pleasure of editing, covering pay inequities, community leaders and student protests.
These articles are the reasons why I spent the past year slogging through hundreds of hours of editing, unfathomably late nights in the Sadler Center and degrading waves of YikYak attacks. They’re the underrepresented stories that don’t get published on W&M News, that may not bring the school money or prestige, yet impact the lives of community members every day. They’re pieces that, as a writer, push me out of my comfort zone and introduce me to incredible people, as an editor, force consideration of whose voices are being uplifted in the media and, as a reader, encourage a more critical and sensitive awareness of our school community.
I often reflect on what my obligations are as the leader of The Flat Hat, a 114-year old paper that has, at times, been on the right side of history and, at others, harmed members of the College and the City of Williamsburg. The Flat Hat’s job as a newspaper, of course, is to inform readers about all relevant local news — big, small, institutional and otherwise. But its job as a student newspaper is to be a voice for students.
It may sound silly or obvious, but our role on campus is to first and foremost amplify the diverse voices, stories and concerns of students, particularly those with less institutional access or platforms. I came into my tenure as EiC with that focus in mind, and I’m proud of how this year’s staff truly pushed for student-forward journalism. I’m particularly proud of the intentional conversations we’ve had and shifts we’ve made to better cover marginalized students and communities on campus. There is still so much progress to be made to promote diversity, equity and inclusion at a predominately white paper in a predominately white institution, but I hope that in the years to come, The Flat Hat staff continues to make concerted efforts to faithfully represent all members of our community.
Being a student newspaper also means The Flat Hat is produced by students. Duh. But I want to take a moment to highlight that fact. For those of you who’ve never tried — publishing a high-quality, entirely student-run newspaper at a school with no advisor and no journalism program is hard. We make mistakes. The work can be rewarding but is also thankless, unbelievably tedious and occasionally met with hate. It is only because of an amazing group of editors who are constantly dedicated to working, learning and growing together that The Flat Hat can produce at the level that we do. Editors who, on top of full class schedules, jobs and other extracurriculars, spend far too many hours each week working on The Flat Hat. I cannot fully express my gratitude for each of these students who play a vital role in promoting journalism on campus.
Now that my time as EiC has officially come to a close, I will be eagerly following how the paper continues to grow under Ethan Qin ’26. Ethan has already shown himself to be an incredibly supportive and thoughtful leader as managing editor this past year. He is filled with great ideas and is constantly trying to make The Flat Hat the best paper it can be. Ethan will be a protective, steadfast and innovative 115th Editor-in-Chief of The Flat Hat.
Supporting Ethan is a dream team of an exec. First ever chief of staff Peerawut Ruangsawasdi’s ’26 near-encyclopedic knowledge of the College and wealth of experience will be invaluable as he helps guide the paper. Digital media editor Alexandra Nakamitsu ’26 has already done so much to grow our videos department and I know she will similarly push the rest of her sections to thrive. Managing editor Mona Garimella ’27 is thoughtful, empathetic and dedicated. Executive editor Megan Rudacille ’27 is an extremely talented writer and genuine person. Both Mona and Megan have proven themselves as section editors and will bring new energy to the exec team. Finally, operations coordinator Maddie Mohamadi’s ’27 hard work, reliability and commitment to journalism will make for a top-tier intern program.
Sam Belmar ’27, Lila Reidy ’27, Molly Martin ’27 and Madigan Webb ’28 will form a stacked team of news editors. Sam and Lila both stepped into new roles last summer and quickly exceeded expectations. Their initiative will be met by Molly and Madigan who have bravely taken on important pieces as associate editors and interns. I can’t wait to read the articles that this year’s news associates, led by chief staff writer Susannah Poteet ’28, produce.
Two newcomers to The Flat Hat, Charles Vaughan ’26 and Ben McLoughlin ’28, will be leading the sports section. Charles is coming in as a seasoned sports writer and Ben has already shown his talents as an promising intern. Veteran editor and awesome human being Max Grill ’26 will keep churning out sports articles as chief sports writer.
Abhayprad Jha’s ’26 love for graphs has not slowed down as he enters his third year in the data section alongside new data editor Skyler Cole ’28. The two of them have already published a number of detailed, thought provoking articles, and I’m excited to see what’s to come.
I’m also excited to announce Abby², the soon-to-be dynamic duo in charge of the variety section. Both Abigail Furcy ’27 and Abby Borgeson ’28 are new to section editing, but I can already tell that their enthusiasm and awesome name connection will take their section far.
Across the desk from the variety section will be opinions editors Mollie Shifflet ’26 and Nora Yoon ’27, backed up by the unmatched takes and vibes of chief opinions writer Avi Joshi ’26. Mollie is a hardened veteran who has seen it all, while Nora is the first new opinions editor in the past two years. Together, they bring the perfect mix of experience and energy to the opinions section.
Artistic mastermind Taiga Lewis ’26 will be videos editor alongside Liam McMahon ’27. Both Taiga and Liam are incredibly talented videographers who are helping The Flat Hat make a splash into the world of digital journalism.
There’s nobody I’d rather have running our social media than friends and co-editors Karis Koutsourelakis ’26 and Audrey Gunnlaugsonn ’26. Karis and Audrey deserve an award for the number of last-minute posting requests they’ve responded to over the past two years, and we are so grateful for them.
We have a few brand new editors filling out the rest of our digital media sections. Photos editors Kylie Totten ’28 and Kimberly McCann ’28, podcast editors Hans Sirotniak ’28 and Eric Sohn ’27, and graphics editors Michael Gabriel ’28 and Hannah Yang ’28 have proven to be dedicated and creative interns. They will no doubt bring new ideas and talents to each of their respective sections.
Leading The Flat Hat Magazine will be Editors-in-Chief Portia Dai ’28 and Grace Rivera ’28. Portia and Grace have both been integral to the production of past issues of the magazine and I know that The Flat Hat’s creative wing will be in good hands under them.
Last but absolutely not least, I want to shout out some of the more behind-the-scenes members of the paper. Alisha Khodabocus ’26 and Maddie Cassidy ’26 were two of The Flat Hat’s first ever fact checkers and are two of our most reliable, friendly editors. Taking the well-deserved position of copy chief, I am confident that Alisha will be a positive leader of the copy section. And I can’t wait to see how Maddie helps The Flat Hat grow in her self-designed role as continuous education officer. Ombudsman Anna Saal ’27 helped me deal with a lot of s— this year. I’m sure she’ll help Ethan deal with a lot of s— next year too. Anna is great.
Another great and easy-to-love member of The Flat Hat is business manager Daniel Choi ’26, who graciously stepped into this job in the middle of last semester and has already gone above and beyond. Finally, I am eager to see how the website expands with the assistance of brand-new webmaster Sam Harrington ’27, who is diving headfirst into his work.
If you’ve made it this far into reading, please give yourself a high five, drink some water and hang in there while I express one last, huge thank you to the editors who are entering their Flat Hat retirement era this semester.
Thank you to my outgoing exec members, Emma Henry ’25, Sarah Devendorf ’25, Agavni Mehrabi ’25 and Ryan Goodman ’25. Emma is a news and operations extraordinaire whose name you should take note of now because she is going to do big things in the journalism world. Sarah is an integral member of The Flat Hat who has expanded the intern program and left a lasting impact as a pioneer in the role of ombudsman. Agavni’s amazing spirit and excitement for everything that she does helped the Executive sections shine for the past two years. And as The Photos Guy, I’m grateful for how Ryan has always carried a positive energy and willingness to help in everything he does.
Thank you to two more of our photos MVPs, Juliana Gomien ’25 and Sedra Olabi ’25. Juliana’s organization made her a much-needed leader of the section who is leaving far too soon. Sedra is an underrated member of The Flat Hat, always stepping up to the plate for last minute requests and producing beautiful photographs.
Thank you to section editors Miles Mortimer ’25, Catherine Storke ’25, Lisa Coleman ’25 and Laura Holt ’25. Miles’s good nature and meme game would make him the most loved person in the office if it weren’t for his speedy InDesign skills that breed a little bit of jealousy in his fellow editors. Along with doing all sorts of random projects for me, Catherine helped shape a graphics section that consistently produces beautiful designs for our variety and opinions pages. Lisa similarly revived our data section, allowing us to publish countless fascinating data-forward pieces that contextualize news in a whole different way. And Laura allowed us to maintain our still-young podcast programming, editing audio from both Williamsburg and abroad.
Thank you to Flat Hat troopers Crystal Wang ’25, Matthew Berthoud ’25 and Adam Jutt ’25. Crystal is best known as an occasional opinions writer who likes to stir the pot and speak her mind, but I think she should be better known as a longtime leader of the copy section who knows a lot about the style guide and even more about dealing with people. Matthew doesn’t show his face around The Flat Hat very much, but has been one of our most important members, dedicating hours and hours of his time to making sure our website does not crash and die. And Adam is our esteemed resident of the knowledge apple.
Finally, thank you to my fans who made it to the bottom of this article. Y’all are real ones. Now I’m going to take the long, soul-healing nap that I’ve been yearning for all year.