At the start of every new year, you hear everyone say they’re going to change in one way or another. Some say they’re going to start changing the way they eat, spend money or even the way they look, but more often than not, 90 percent of those people won’t make an effort to accomplish their goals.

The good news is The Oakland Post is always good on its promises.

For some of you, this paper may seem completely foreign and brand new. Well, that’s because it is.

When I took over this paper as editor-in-chief, the first thing I wanted to do was create a paper that best reflected the students of Oakland University. I conducted surveys, had numerous conversations, attended conferences and  yes, trolled social media to see what the students of our community most needed, and were interested in reading. This paper is the result of that research.

I found that our paper lacked a modern, appealing look which is what most college students are looking for in their college newspaper. We lacked imagery, color and “edge,” according to a few survey responses. Hopefully I’ve brought at least 85 percent of that to you in today’s issue.

Another thing I found our paper lacked was an accurate representation of the campus community.

The stories we would write reflected only a portion of Oakland University. Faculty? Check. Administration? Check. Event coverage? Check. Student representation? “Lacking/could use improvement” according to many survey responses.

It is our job as reporters to seek truth and report it, but we have failed when it comes to seeking truth and reporting about our fellow students. However, we intend to change all that and more.

We hope with the rebranding of The Oakland Post you find what we have been lacking and then some.

While it may not be perfect at first, we hope that you continue to be faithful readers and bear with us (sorry I had to do it haha).

Please understand that this is simply one step in the right direction. We know that you, our reader, will love this paper more than you did before.

Remember that with change, comes progress.

Sincerely,

AuJenee Hirsch