Letter from the outgoing Editor-in-Chief

To The Gatepost Staff and Framingham State Community, 

I write to you with an abundance of hope and gratitude as you read this 24th and final issue of The Gatepost’s 94th year. 

This year has proved difficult for our small but mighty staff as we navigated the loss of so many talented and brilliant graduating Gatepost staffers and editors last year. For myself, the position of Editor-in-Chief was one I never expected to hold, and as I found my footing in this new role, I learned so much about myself, my peers, and the great wide world of student journalism. 

As a shy staff writer back in 2024, I never thought I’d stick around. I never thought I was quite good enough. I felt like I didn’t fit in with the group, and everyone else was far more dedicated than I.

Every Monday and Thursday for the last two-and-a-half years, I have shown up at McCarthy 410 with the promise of pizza, line-by-line copy edits, a problematic Adobe Suite, and late nights. Slowly, as the weeks passed and the issues hit the stands with my name in the staff box, McCarthy 410 became my happy place - somewhere I could be myself and come together with my friends over something we are passionate about. 

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of covering everything from regular-season basketball games to Fashion Club icons to the general education model. I’ve written 22 editorials on various campus issues confronting our students. 

When I was in the thick of the reporting, always striving toward that Thursday deadline, it didn’t hit me how this work is what starts conversations. 

Journalism is a bridge bringing us all together, and that bridge is more important than ever. 

Journalists and citizens are looking at an information system that is breaking down with each passing day. As we at The Gatepost were working this year, PBS and NPR were defunded. The Associated Press was barred from the White House. President Donald Trump called female reporters degrading names. The Washington Post and other major outlets were forced to make massive layoffs. 

I’m proud to say, the students in our newsroom didn’t so much as break a sweat as the news got worse with each passing day - even when press freedoms began to be stripped away at other universities. 

We want to do this work for you, the University, and every student, faculty, and staff member, as well as our alumni, family members, and friends who read us from afar. Your support means the world to us. 

Student journalists will not be stopped. We will keep fighting while we are here at Framingham State, and even after we leave, we will work to serve our communities. 

I am immensely proud of the work we do here. 

To my staff: it breaks my heart to leave you. We have been through it all, and I am proud of the work and dedication of each of you. 

A few words of advice as you transition into the 95th year: leave your ego at the door. Listen to each other. Be open and willing to learn something new from your fellow writers and photographers. Forgive each other. And, most importantly, take a step back every once in a while and recognize that the work you are doing is second to none. 

I have always been grateful you’re here, and I want you to feel the same. 

I’ll always keep reading you. 

We wouldn’t be here or have made it through another successful year without the unwavering dedication of our advisors, Desmond McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, and our fabulous graduate advising assistant, Emma Lyons. I couldn’t have done it without the three of you. Thank you for everything. 

Dylan and Adrien. My associate editors. My best friends and my other two brain cells. Thank you for being my sounding board, a shoulder to cry on, and I’ve had the most fun with you. I couldn’t have done it without you. 

Dylan, there’s no one better to take over this paper, and I know without a doubt you will take The Gatepost to incredible places. I couldn’t be prouder of you, and I’m always here if you need me. 

Here’s to 94 years and the perseverance, dedication, and bravery for 94 more. 

Signing off, 

Sophia R. Oppedisano 

Editor-in-Chief