Dear SRU community,
My name is Hannah Shumsky, and I’m the editor-in-chief of The Rocket, SRU’s independent, student-run newspaper and digital news organization.
First of all, if you are new to The Rock, I want to welcome you to our campus and community. The Rocket covers the stories of Slippery Rock and its community members in our news, sports and campus life sections. No matter where you are this semester, whether you are in Slippery Rock or at your home, we are committed to informing you of SRU’s happenings.
The last time I wrote to you, we were at the end of the spring semester and I provided updates on our publication plan for the fall. Now that the fall semester is here, I have further updates and changes to share.
In the short term, we are planning to print five print editions this semester. These dates are as follows:
- Sept. 4
- Sept. 25
- Oct. 9 (Ode to Sports Edition)
- Oct. 30 (Election Edition)
- Nov. 20
These dates changed from my previous letter because of the changes to the academic calendar over the summer. The Ode to Sports edition will include historic lookbacks at sports at The Rock, and we will cover the presidential and local elections in our special edition prior to the Nov. 3 election.
Of course, we understand that our ability to print relies on student and faculty access to campus and the safety of our staff. Thus, for as long as we are able, we will continue to produce print editions.
If you will not be on campus this semester, you can view our print editions online. The Rocket’s digital editions can be found here. We will also promote these editions on our social media, so make sure to follow @SRURocket on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
No matter what happens this semester, we will maintain our status as a digital-first news organization through our website, theonlinerocket.com, and our social media accounts.
The majority of our 14 staff members are living in Slippery Rock or are commuting to campus, but a few staff members will be covering SRU happenings remotely. While this semester brings new challenges to our staff, we look forward to covering some of our most important topics yet, including Black Lives Matter, student mental health, the coronavirus pandemic, the election and the redesign of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
And finally, if you are interested in joining our team as a contributor, email me at hms1015@sru.edu. Even if you will not physically be on campus this semester, we want to have as many different perspectives and reporters on our team as possible.
Until my next letter, I wish you all the best of luck this semester. Remember to social distance, wear your mask and check in with yourself. We will get through this semester, regardless of the circumstances.
Best,
Hannah Shumsky
@hshumsky_ed
