As the Latin community celebrates the senior class, The Forum extends a bittersweet goodbye to eight outstanding journalists on the Editorial Team, including all three editors-in chief—Peter Jones, Bea Parr, and Robert Igbokwe—in addition to editors Tejas Vadali, Ashna Satpathy, Angela Gil, Marianne Mihas, and Antonio Feliciano y Pleyto. As leaders and journalists, these writers have made their mark on The Forum through their dedication, passion, and hard work. They have produced a variety of articles, ranging from metal straws to Latin’s fully remote announcement. This past year, in particular, has been incredibly demanding on the editors as news in the Latin community and the world was developing at a feverish pace. Nevertheless, The Forum’s seniors handled these pressing stories with the talent and grace we have come to expect of them. Before they leave, these remarkable journalists shared some of their most memorable moments, favorite articles, and hopes for The Forum’s future.
Editor-in-Chief (EIC) Bea Parr has proudly served three years on The Forum, along with two years as an EIC. “I chose to write for the paper because, honestly, I had friends that enjoyed it, and once I tried it, I just never stopped, because I loved it so much,” Bea said. She mentioned some of the most memorable moments relating to The Forum were the nights she barely slept. “Certain breaking news stories I remember staying up super late to get an article out as soon as possible, such as when Latin announced they were going to be fully remote.” Bea added, “I think my favorite articles were when I interviewed Nora Cheng about her band or when I covered marathon runners at our school. That was cool.”
Although she’s loved her time at The Forum, Bea acknowledged some of the changes she wishes to see in the publication’s future. “I’d really like to see us represent a wider variety of voices, because I think that sometimes we end up interviewing the same people.” She also expressed her hopes for more arts-based articles since they are pretty rare in issues. “The Forum is in really good hands in the future, and I am so excited to see where it goes. I have built so many relationships, and I am so grateful for that; The Forum has given me so much.”
Fellow EIC Robert Igbokwe has been writing for The Forum since his freshman year. “I remember during freshman year clubs fair, I signed up for pretty much anything and everything. As I wrote more for The Forum, I started getting compliments from editors and my peers and realized not only was I pretty okay at this, but that people actually read and maybe even cared about what I had to say. So I stuck with it!” After his freshman year, Robert continued writing thoughtful and impressive articles, and he cites his article on social media activism surrounding the imprisonment of Cyntoia Brown as one of his favorite pieces.
“What makes writing for The Forum so special is the fact that it’s one of a handful of clubs at Latin where I really felt like I formed a community with the other members,” said Robert. “Some of my best memories involve chasing a story with my fellow editors! Journalism—even high school journalism—can be very exciting work!” For the future of The Forum, Robert echoed Bea’s desire to see more voices represented in The Forum and added, “Beyond interviewing more people, I’d like our staff and its leadership to become more diverse, since I feel that our paper’s biases often reflect that lack of diversity.”
Tejas Vadali, the current managing editor, had a similar trajectory through The Forum, joining his freshman year and eventually taking on a significant leadership role. “I chose to write for the Forum simply because I love to write and I love my community. The Forum was the premier outlet for me to accomplish both goals, and four years later, that hasn’t changed.” Like his fellow editors, Tejas appreciates the feeling of following an interesting story. “My most memorable moments have been editing breaking news articles during lunch blocks and other tight windows. Something about the excitement of having a story to share with the school and being able to tell it first is unparalleled.” This same excitement led him to write a decade in review at the end of 2019, which he considers his favorite article. For the future, Tejas only advises The Forum to continue to be fearless in the face of outside pressures. “There will be many members of the school community and beyond who will ask that certain stories aren’t published. Those are the stories most necessitating publication, and to succumb to others’ influences in not putting those pieces out would deprive our community of truth.”
Standards Editor Ashna Satpathy has been a member of The Forum since her freshman year. “I chose to write for the paper because I wanted to improve my writing skills. I thought it was a good way to get involved with the Upper School community, and I figured there was nothing to lose,” Ashna said. Like Bea, Ashna noted that her friends who already had been on The Forum played a significant role in inspiring her to join.
Although Ashna has been writing on The Forum for four years, her most recent articles on the teachers’ unionization efforts were her most compelling pieces. “It felt good to be covering something that was so pertinent and could very well change the course of Latin. It felt like people were really relying on me for information, and it’s cool, but also stressful, to be in that position,” Ashna said. Aside from her unionization coverages, another one of her favorite articles was an older one she wrote called, Safe Spaces vs. Freedom of the Press: Northwestern University Caught in the Crosshairs. “This article was cool because I got to cover a really important topic and called out mainstream ‘cancel culture.’” Her advice for The Forum’s next leaders: “I would love to see The Forum continue to cover important topics on a regular basis and work on publishing more breaking-news stories in between editions.”
New to Chicago as of her sophomore year, Angela Gil has been a committed member of The Forum and currently serves as a Features Editor. “I got roped into writing for my old school’s newspaper as a freshman. Sadly, I had to decline a leadership role at my old school because I was moving to Chicago, but when I got to Latin as a sophomore, my mom and my English teacher encouraged me to write for The Forum, and I absolutely loved it,” Angela said.
Although her time on The Forum began late, Angela especially enjoyed interviewing teachers and students. “I found that it gave me an excuse to talk to people about really interesting topics, and I learned so much by hearing all of their perspectives,” she added. “I also remember the happiness that I got from community members telling me that they get a lot of their school news from The Forum, since we’re such fast and thorough journalists.” Angela’s favorite and most popular article was co-written with Marin Creamer: Teachers Express Concern Over School’s Reopening. “It was awesome to get to share the teachers’ voices, and the reaction that we got from students was completely unexpected, but I was happy to see them share the article on social media,” she said.
Angela said that in the future, she wants more students—who may not necessarily be associated with The Forum— to write an article every now and then about something they are super interested in. “Although a social media post or doing some research on your own can be productive, the scale is completely different when you post it on The Forum. Something that I really hope stays the same is the ‘real reporting’ that goes on in this newspaper.”
Marianne Mihas has served as one of The Forum’s first-ever Sports Editors. Marianne talked about how she joined The Forum because some of her peers were involved. On top of that, she noted, “I always felt that when I read the articles, sports were always undercovered, which is another reason why I was inspired to start writing.” Being a Sports Editor, Marianne has had many stressful last-minute edits trying to push writers to cover stories at risk of being left behind.
She said, “I think my favorite article I ever wrote was when I covered Waleed and the chess team. It was sort of a play-by-play of chess, which I have never done before. I think Waleed really appreciated it, and I got some really positive comments about it as well.”
For the future of The Forum, Marianne wants to see more sports coverage. She added, “I also hope The Forum continues to push to be a student-run paper and to not let the administration get in the way of news. I also really hope The Forum continues to be a valid news source for the community, because this year it really has been more than ever.”
Similarly to Angela, Antonio Feliciano y Pleyto joined the Latin community in his sophomore year. Antonio served as the Arts Editor this year and has covered various topics, including when universities went test-optional. “I thought the paper would be a great way to meet more people in the community and improve my writing skills at the same time,” he said. Antonio added, “I really enjoyed writing an article on the spring 2020 student-run play, because I was able to learn more about all the technical aspects and various other things that go into a theater production.” Despite this strange year that was not at all conducive to the arts, Antonio was fascinated to hear about the creativity involved in producing a play despite the fully remote challenges.
The exhausting nights dealing with late submissions, covering last-minute breaking-news, coming up with article ideas, and needing lots of patience—these editors have done it all. Without them, The Forum would not be where it is today. Angela said, “Again, I’d just like to emphasize: writing for The Forum showed me how easy it is to make a difference in your community. Even just by commenting under an article, or engaging with the writers in an interview, sharing your unique perspective is invaluable.”