I did the math. I have been thinking about writing this article for 1,079 days. 

Back then, I was a bright-eyed Hoya news writer with five stories and an interview with Meek Mill to my name. One thousand and seventy-nine days ago, on my way to an introductory history discussion, I picked up a copy of The Hoya and read former Editor-in-Chief Ian Scoville’s “exit viewpoint” — an article traditionally penned by the outgoing editor in chief.  

Immediately, I started dreaming of my name in the byline. Riley Rogerson: editor in chief. 

The fantasy wasn’t hard to conjure. I had held plenty of high school leadership positions. I understood the formula. Show up in the office. Write two, even three, articles a week. Put The Hoya ahead of school. Sleep when you can. Stress when you can’t. 

I got to work. 

I sought out mentorship, made friends and inadvertently fell in love with my job. With every source I interviewed and every story I told, I became more welcomed into the newsroom. While my growing commitment sprang from telling stories that mattered, writing with the thrill of a print deadline and cultivating meaningful relationships, I never took my eyes off the prize. Riley Rogerson: editor in chief. 

The formula to becoming editor in chief, of course, included hard work, a love of student journalism and all the sweat and tears I could muster. 

As I leave the role, I’m now aware the formula also included the confidence of feeling like I belonged in just about every room I’ve ever walked into as a privileged, prep-school-educated white woman. It included never hearing microaggressions about myself in the office — save for a few sexist remarks — and not having to simultaneously work a paying job. 

The Hoya’s most recent diversity survey results show that The Hoya overrepresents white students at Georgetown University, and about 65% of Hoya staffers do not receive financial aid. Of course I could imagine my name in the byline 1,079 days ago. The Hoya rewards people like me.

Calls for change have been loud, yet substantive progress has been modest. The past three editors in chief commented on The Hoya’s demographics in their exit viewpoints. One said university funding processes caused newsroom inequity, another pushed for greater accountability from the Georgetown community, and the most recent argued staff compensation would lead to greater diversity. 

I think it’s all of the above plus a leadership with an unflinching, officewide commitment to inclusivity. It is something that can’t and hasn’t happened overnight, but it’s something leaders, particularly leaders of color, have begun to nurture at The Hoya. 

The Hoya puts out a newspaper every week. But our top priority shouldn’t be meeting our print deadline. It should be writing hard-hitting articles that all students at Georgetown care about. It should be building trust with underserved communities on campus who are wary of counting on The Hoya to tell their stories. It should be decreasing The Hoya’s stress culture and prioritizing our team’s mental health. It should be welcoming and mentoring each of our over 300 staffers. 

While The Hoya, and its leaders, have repeatedly fallen short of these mantras, I now leave filled with hope. In the past 1,079 days, The Hoya has begun working toward our goal of becoming a more representative newsroom. 

Some of the steps have been common-sense practices. The Hoya has reformed its hiring processes to make some positions open to any applicant. It has collected data in a diversity survey to better understand our demographics, and it has required professional trainings about reporting on race and trauma. 

Other initiatives address big-picture structural concerns. For example, The Hoya created a new compensation director position with the dream that one day we can pay our staff. 

The list goes on; so does the work The Hoya has left to do. 

I look forward to seeing what The Hoya accomplishes in the next 1,079 days. I hope it is constructing a newspaper where everyone can imagine themselves as editor in chief. 

Riley Rogerson is a senior in the College and the 147th editor in chief of The Hoya. Her term ends Saturday.