Dear John Carroll community, 

I know we’re already a month back into school, but I wanted to say welcome back to campus! This year has already been very exciting so far with plenty of campus developments and renovations underway. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about how I plan to lead The Carroll News to create a more engaging platform for students, faculty, and administration leaders to share their thoughts on campus affairs. 

Initially when the pandemic hit John Carroll, our budget was reduced significantly and we were no longer able to provide the physical print copies of the newspaper. Thankfully, we already had our website set up where we published our content digitally on a weekly basis. That then became our main method of publication, but many people still think that The Carroll News stopped publishing altogether because they no longer see the papers around campus. 

I sincerely hope that this year, our student-run newspaper will offer a platform to reconnect with the John Carroll community as a whole, including students, faculty, staff, alumni and administration leaders alike. To do this, I’m going back to the drawing board of what journalism looks like on campus. With the help of our new faculty adviser, John McMurray, we’re building bonds across many departments and organizations around campus. The Carroll News has previously stood alone on its own island, but this year, we’re building bridges. 

Like a college kid coming back to campus after summer break, I wanted to refresh the visual look of the website. After many hours of updating, refreshing and double checking, I’ve fully revamped every corner of our site! I hope that this new distribution of content will showcase more of the diversity of work that we put out and also how much we proudly produce. 

To further expand The Carroll News this year, we’ve updated our “Photo” section to “Multimedia” as a whole. With this and with the help of our Multimedia Editor, TJ Lindstrom, we’re hoping to create more supplementary media content for our stories, such as videos, podcasting and other forms of visual storytelling! 

I feel as though we’ve all become separated from each other since my freshman year. COVID didn’t make it any easier, as we all became trapped in our little zoom boxes. These days, I cherish the memories of running into everyone I knew at the Tween at 1am, as we all waited for our food. I curse the mobile order for killing the Tween culture! Nostalgia aside, I believe that it is more important now than ever for us to engage with each other, to talk about our differences rather than use them as labels to divide us. If we are going to survive in Northeast Ohio, we’re going to have to do it together. Cleveland against the World. 

Before I hear your story, let me tell you mine! My name is Nick Sack, I’m a senior (yikes, I know) political science major with a minor in communications. I’m from Westlake, OH, but I’ve lived all over Summit and Medina counties. I’m extremely passionate about combating inequality and understanding our role as people on our shared planet. Outside of that, anyone who knows me could tell you that I love red pandas, Buddhism and learning to cook! If you’re lucky, you can find me playing tennis at John Carroll’s courts. 

When I first came to John Carroll, I was overwhelmed by the sheer sense of community; it seriously felt tangible to me! My whole freshman year was spent with my tiny Dolan (the dirty version, not the new fancy one) single room filled with all of my friends. I’d constructed a “double decker” couch by putting a Wal-Mart futon under my lofted bed. We’d sit for hours and watch shows together, talking about our shared experiences. I thought that I would sit with those people for the rest of my four years at John Carroll. 

Of course, disaster struck later that year, and I moved back home with my parents. Those semesters were difficult and I was sick of hearing how “unprecedented” everything was. But then, just as I thought there was no hope, we were able to come back in person last fall. Since then, I’ve rented a house with some of my friends (who were in fact there in Dolan with me) and I feel the community of John Carroll with them every day. 

The pandemic may have forced us to stay inside but I’m as happy as ever to bring The Carroll News back to John Carroll. For my last year at John Carroll, I want to feel the community of John Carroll every day. Most importantly, as we return to campus this year, I want to understand how best to serve you, the student body. 

You’ve heard my story; now I’d like to hear yours! Is there something that you believe needs to be said on campus? Are there any stories that you want to share? How can we help you connect with your fellow students? I hope to hear from ALL of you this year!

Please feel free to join us for one of our Planning Meetings on Wednesdays at 6PM in CB120, submit a guest column or Letter to the Editor by emailing myself or our Opinion Editor, Eric Fogle, at [email protected] or contact me at [email protected] with any questions, comments or other inquiries you may have!

I’m really looking forward to building bridges with you all this year.

Onward On!

Nick Sack