Dear readers of The Echo,

My name is Sarah Graue and I couldn’t be more excited to serve as Editor in Chief of The Echo this year. As our staff gears up for another semester covering the California Lutheran University community, I want to start by thanking you — whether you’ve read an article, shared your experiences with us or discussed our stories around campus, we appreciate your support.

When I transferred to Cal Lutheran last year as a junior, I never expected I would have the opportunity to lead this publication. I’m deeply honored to help foster The Echo’s 64-year legacy of timely, hyperlocal reporting, especially on a campus that has welcomed me so warmly.

Working on the school newspaper is one of the most rewarding and eye-opening experiences a student can have. Good collegiate journalists play a vital role in maintaining transparency within an institution and work diligently to ensure all perspectives are heard. With this in mind, our small, but mighty, staff of 20 is committed to bringing you stories you can’t get anywhere else.

We see our newspaper as a campus-wide group project, and we welcome your support in making our coverage as representative of our community as possible. If you have a story recommendation or see something worth investigating, visit our Submit News Tips page to share ideas confidentially or feel free to contact any editorial staff member directly.

I’d also like to thank my predecessor, Abbey Saucedo, and the entire 2024-25 Echo editorial staff for their tireless dedication to objectivity, accuracy and fairness during a major period of university transitions. We have some major shoes to fill, but I promise to work tirelessly to uphold their high journalism standards.

So the next time you see an Echo reporter photographing courtside at a Regals Volleyball game, investigating the university’s budgetary challenges or reporting at new local businesses (yes, the cat cafe), know that this is what college journalism looks like in action. I hope that our pursuit of truth inspires you to stay curious and engaged with the news around you.

We look forward to being in your inbox every Tuesday morning, and look out for our print issues in November and May. Your readership and support is what drives student journalism forward.

Sarah Graue

Editor in Chief