The Gatepost Editorial: A 2025-26 Year in Review

By The Gatepost Editorial Board

On Sept. 26, The Gatepost Editorial Board published “Allow us to reintroduce ourselves,” in which we reasserted our commitment to serving the Framingham State community.

We wrote: “[Our] commitment has not changed over the years. Every editorial board that has led The Gatepost has prided itself on its dedication to ethically and objectively informing our community about breaking news, as well as sharing the daily life and events that make our campus a lively and inclusive place to be.” 

This Gatepost Editorial Board that has led the publication in The Gatepost’s 94th year is proud to have upheld our commitment to this mission and is incredibly grateful for the support of the community, our readers, and the unwavering dedication of our advisors Desmond McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, and Graduate Advising Assistant Emma Lyons. 

Our news section, led by News Editor Bella Grimaldi and incoming News Editor Avery Slavin, has reported on everything from SGA meetings to violations at the McCarthy Dining Commons. 

In-depth contributions were made to the news section, including Sports Editor Izabela (Izzy) Gage’s “Women’s ice hockey receives new storage space at Loring Arena,” published Feb. 27, as well as Associate Editor Dylan Pichnarcik’s articles “Updates to digital accessibility coming this spring,” and “Faculty discusses new GenEd model,” published Jan. 30 and April 24, respectively.

Copy Editor Cole Johnson won a Region 1 first-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists in the In-Depth Reporting category for his work on a news series about enrollment and retention. The series includes “Admissions works to slow enrollment decline,” and “Graduation rate continues to fall amidst retention efforts,” published April 24 and Oct. 31, respectively.

Opinions Editor Izayah Morgan worked tirelessly to interview students week in and week out for Campus Conversations and contributed gripping, emotional opinion pieces about politics and the experience of being a Black man on campus. 

Izayah is the genius behind our historic Black History Month special edition published Feb. 12. He worked with managers and editors across the paper to make the issue a cohesive celebration of Black history and culture on campus. 

He helped us make history. 

Izayah has worked with The Gatepost for the last four years and will graduate in just a few weeks at the DCU Center before moving on to get his master’s degree at Boston University. We couldn’t be more grateful for his dedication and passion over the years. 

Over this past year, Sports Editor Izzy Gage and incoming Sports Editor Taylor Kimmell have been at the helm, consistently and effectively reporting on our vibrant Athletics Department. 

Along with in-depth game coverage, Izzy has written incredible features about Framingham State athletes and was awarded an honorable mention in the College Sports Story category from the New England Newspaper & Press Association for “A night in the rain shows women's soccer's resilience,” published April 18. 

Taylor was awarded a first-place award in the College Sports Game category from the New England Newspaper & Press Association for her co-written article with Editor-in-Chief Sophia Oppedisano, “Men’s basketball wins first playoff game in 15 years in spectacular fashion,” published March 7, 2025.

Izzy and Taylor were also excited to cover the first NCAA game hosted by the Framingham State football team in program history. 

They continue to be so grateful for the trust of the athletes and the support of the Athletics Department, especially Director of Athletics Thomas Kelley and Deputy Director of Athletics Carey Eggan.

Sarah Daponde and Omar Fernandez Rodriguez have led our Arts & Features section with style, talent, and a deep commitment to their work. 

In the fall, we also had the movie-savant and review-enthusiast Owen Glancy on our team. Owen has moved on from Framingham State, but he will always be a part of our community. 

With everything from in-depth event coverage to profiles to video game reviews, the Arts & Features section has shone this year. 

Students were profiled from every corner of our community, and the voices of incredible speakers such as the first Massachusetts Poet Laureate, Reggie Gibson, and NASA astronaut Bob Hines sang in our event coverage. 

Frequent contributors to A&F included Staff Writers Kate Norrish, Jesse Burchill, Dan Lima, and Paul Harrington. 

Paul is graduating at the DCU Center in a few weeks and will be moving on to Boston College.

Sophia Oppedisano earned a finalist prize in the Feature Story category from the Society of Professional Journalists for her student profile, “Daniel Moore’s labor of love: ‘Iconoclast’ stuns at 2025 Spring Fashion Show,” published May 9.

This year, our photography, design, and illustrations have been unmatched. 

Multiple faculty members and administrators have complimented our staff on the quality of our photos and layout this year, and we thank them for their support, as this is our first full year working with a broadsheet layout. 

Our editors and designers have done a masterful job implementing the new layout, especially Photos & Design Editor Alexis Schlesinger, incoming Photos & Design Editor Onyx Lovely, and Assistant Photos & Design Editor Christy Howland. 

Onyx and Christy have turned in superb feature photography and created innovative photo spreads, while Alexis, who will be transitioning to the role of Opinions Editor next year, has contributed vibrant photography work and has written across the paper’s sections. 

Our Illustrations Editor, Marcus Falcão, worked as the sole illustrator during the spring semester and did a beautiful job illustrating for reviews, opinions, and features. Since then, he has been joined by Tobias (Toby) Cotton-Selman and Rileigh Kelley, who have made fabulous contributions.

In the fall, we had the incomparable David Abe, Liv Dunleavy, and Ronnie Chiu-Lin on our illustrations team. Their smiles, laughter, and endless creativity have been dearly missed in our office, and we are so proud of them for graduating in December.  

Marcus will also be graduating in a few weeks, and his senior capstone was presented in the Mazmanian Gallery at one of their recent installations.

Our Multimedia Editor, Antonio Machado, has contributed to our social media pages and written for every section this year, including his column “Pop into Culture,” countless reviews, news stories, features, and event coverage. 

His efforts have earned him the position of Associate Editor next year alongside Omar. Both of them are integral members of this paper and our office.

Our Associate Editors, Adrien Gobin and Dylan Pichnarcik, have exemplified what it means to be a managing editor on The Gatepost and have dedicated so much time, energy, and work to make this paper successful. 

Adrien, a designer and photographer, has spent the last four years with The Gatepost and fell in love with sports photography. As our sole sports photographer this year, she has been at almost every game and still made time to design photo spreads, help with layout, train new photographers and designers, and above all, serve as a calming and persistent presence who cultivated a welcoming environment for everyone at The Gatepost. 

Adrien is second-to-none and has won a finalist award from the New England Newspaper & Press Association in the Photo Series category.

She has worked as an intern with the Athletics Department and the Worcester Railers this year, and she served as the Senior Rams Engagement Ambassador with the Dean of Students Office. 

Adrien is graduating on May 23 and is hoping to move on to a career in sports photography. 

Dylan, a news-writing expert and photographer, has spent this year honing his craft with us here at The Gatepost and with Essex Media Group as a reporter. He’s known for covering campus breaking news and in-depth stories, but this year, he’s started writing engaging features and columns about campus life and the lively individuals who make Framingham State not only a home for him, but for all students. 

His efforts have earned him the role of Editor-in-Chief for The Gatepost’s 95th year. Dylan’s hard work, sense of humor, and compassion are among the driving forces behind the paper’s success, and he will be an incredible leader next year. 

Our outgoing Editor-in-Chief, Sophia Oppedisano, who got her start as a sports writer, quickly moved up the ranks of our staff and has proven not only to herself - but to the entire campus community - that quiet authority, a calming presence, and kindness are phenomenal traits for a judicious, effective leader. Sophia is a shining example of how a co-curricular education benefits students. 

She has truly made her mark during her time at FSU, earning two minors in the departments of Communication Arts and Psychology. Sophia is graduating in a few short weeks with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a concentration in journalism. 

The management team has brought three unique, important skill sets to the office, and their synchronicity and passion have allowed The Gatepost to continue the tradition 

The Gatepost Staff won finalist prizes from both the New England Newspaper & Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists for College Newspaper of the Year and the Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper, respectively. 

And with that, the 94th year of The Gatepost comes to an end - until we see you again in Fall ‘26.