Hey readers,

I’m writing this as I sit in my office at The Oakland Post. My final semester of college is upon me and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about these last four years, particularly at The Post.

I remember walking through our office door as a 17-year-old and staring at an editor, this guy we called Stretch, for what felt like five years before he asked if I needed something. He introduced me to the girl who would become my boss, Kaylee, and she taught me most of what I know about journalism. Fast forward three years and here I am sitting in Kaylee’s old office writing to you.

The Post has been synonymous with Oakland University for me the entire time I’ve been here. Sometimes I think I know this 48-year-old newspaper better than I know myself. So when I got the opportunity to be the editor-in-chief for a year, I knew I wanted to shake things up a little.

You’re reading a magazine today because of something that happened to me back in October. I was at a conference in Dallas, Texas and I met the student editors of The Paisano in San Antonio. They’re about the same size as my staff and seem to have the family bond that we do over at The Post. Their adviser is a sweetheart too; we got along right away.

Aside from their newspaper, the folks over at The Paisano also run a magazine. The EIC was talking about it and I couldn’t help but think The Posties could do the same thing. I met with my staff when I got home and they met my far-fetched idea with excitement. They have spent the last six months working extra time to make sure this magazine is the best it can be.

Let me be clear: This is not The Post on nicer paper. This is a magazine and it reads like one. Inside we have stories about fashion, food, the faces of campus and more. There are no political opinions. There are no police reports. This is all about telling the stories of campus.

We named this thing The Pioneer because we’re trying something new. What you’re holding in your hand is the first successfully printed magazine made by a group of OU students, and we’re beyond proud of that. Also, Oakland’s first mascot was Pioneer Pete, and we wanted to tie our university into the name of this publication. This new thing has been scary, but it’s exciting to be able to contribute something to Oakland’s and The Post’s history.

One of my favorite stories in this issue is “The Men of Sexual Assault” by Simon Albaugh. Simon dove into an issue our society rarely talks about and follows these men through their experience of coping and moving on from what happened to them. Another, albeit more light-hearted, favorite of mine is Sadie Layher’s review of The Meeting House in downtown Rochester. She wanted to try reviewing some restaurants for this project and what she ended up writing was a spunky, sassy and detailed review. She recommends the homemade ice cream. Yet another is a look at what faculty members have chili peppers on Rate My Professor and what they think about it. Katie LaDuke turned out a cute, fun look at professor perspectives.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as The Posties and I have enjoyed writing them.

-Shelby Tankersley