In the warm fall of 2020, I stumbled my way to Miami University, green behind the ears, eager to get away from home and terrified of where I was going.
I learned these things because when I needed community, friendship and work to do, I found The Miami Student.
During my final night as editor-in-chief of The Miami Student, we achieved a rarity.
A media outlet making a mistake probably won’t surprise anyone who’s ever worked on a student publication or followed the news closely. Media is created by people, and people get things wrong.
Even though I was just a sportswriter at the time as a junior on campus, The Student editor-in-chief Sue MacDonald ran my column on the front of the entire paper. It was well-read, especially by Crum, his assistant coaches and players. They fumed with every syllable.
As a 1973 first-year student, I decided to major in education just like my grandmother (who attended Oxford College for Women in the early 1900s), my two teacher sisters and my mother, who was administrator at a local school.
Within 15 minutes on that legendary Wednesday evening, I knew I'd FOUND MY PEOPLE … and I never left!
My four years with The Student were filled with indelible experiences, incredible friends and colleagues, including a young Ohio woman who later became my wife, and the inimitable opportunities to contribute to the quality of and commitment to journalism at Miami. It was inspiring and life-altering.
"I can’t even process the numerous times I’ve heard people proudly announce that they haven’t read a book since elementary school. When did it become cool to admit that you’re willingly avoiding resources that can enhance your critical thinking?"
"According to a post by Priori Data, in 2025, the average person spent around five to six hours a day on their phones. This begs the question: Are we too obsessed with the relationship with our screens?"
"That truth had never been more clear to me than in the midst of a crowd of hundreds on the cold Friday morning of Jan. 30 at the campus-wide ICE Out Walkout, organized by the Ohio Student Association and Young Democratic Socialists of America at Miami University."
"Long before there was Rosa Parks, there was Ida B. Wells."
"However, many study abroad programs can be realistic when you know where to look and what funding exists for you. The problem isn’t that students don’t want to go; many of us just haven’t heard we can."
"In many Latin-American countries, Valentine’s Day is celebrated as 'Dia de Amor y Amistad,' directly translating to 'Day of Love and Friendship.' I wish this spirit were more common in the United States — less focused on relationships and more on love in general — because that’s a sentiment everyone can agree on."
"Now that we live in a society where women can work, own property and are legally owed bodily autonomy (sort of…), dating has taken precedence over the outdated tradition of courtship. Romantic relationships aren’t always formed with the intention of marriage, but simply companionship."
These words — biased, boring and bad — describe U.S. teenagers’ “perceptions of news media and journalism,” according to the latest News Literacy Project.
"Despite the overwhelming opinion that Cook Field should be preserved, Miami is still planning on building over top of this green space."
"According to the Harvard School of Business, although women make 80% of household healthcare decisions, men account for 89% of partners at venture capital firms. This was evident throughout our pitch, as the eight investors present in our preliminary round — seven of whom were male — hardly took any notes during our presentation."
"Since 2023, Miami has cut or consolidated nearly 20 humanities majors, including American studies, religion and art history. At the same time, the Farmer School of Business dominates the campus and its culture."
"I hope you’re all thinking the exact thing that went through my head upon seeing the ticket under my windshield wiper — who in their right mind gives out a ticket to disabled individuals?"