Coming into the 2021-22 school year as managing editor and content editor, we knew our place on the editorial board mattered, and we wanted to make a difference.

We’ve had such an amazing staff of hardworking writers, designers, editors, distributors, photographers and business-related teams (ads, marketing), and notably, most of the staff is women — it has been so inspiring to see them shine in their respective roles.

Historically, many managing and content editors at The Post have been women, and there have also been a handful of female editor-in-chiefs throughout the years. Each academic year, it is up to these individuals to inspire their staff and take care of things behind the scenes, more than the outside reader would know.

As women representing the staff on the editorial board, we truly hope we’ve made previous iconic female posties proud. We certainly modeled our leadership after you, and hope we made the office a more welcoming place for the women that were on staff this year.

We are both so grateful to have been a part of The Oakland Post’s legacy — Bridget having worked here for four years, and Lauren for two — and sincerely hope we made our mark on this spectacular staff and our campus newspaper.

The Post is a paper that gives everyone a chance, everyone an opportunity to say what they want to say, be heard and speak up. The Oakland Post isn’t just about one or two people, it’s about all of us, and we’re so proud of everyone on staff this year for the work they did.

This year, we valued compassion, trust, honesty, kindness and hard work, and set out to create a culture of acceptance and camaraderie at The Post. As we came back to the office after a year of remote work, we prioritized cultivating this friendly environment, and are confident it’ll be carried on in the years to come.

We’re especially proud that this year Bridget pushed for 24, then 28 pages in our print issue (after starting at 16 pages), and both goals came to fruition. Lauren also worked with a plethora of talented contributors and was able to get their work published frequently.

Additionally — each section of The Post has grown to hold four reporters each, which allows for a diverse array of voices and additional opportunities for students to hone in on their writing skills.

Overall, The Post has been amazing to us because we had each other and our excellent team, and we’re so grateful for our time spent here. We hope we made a difference, even if it was just through editing and designing everything behind a screen.

So thank you to the past women, the current women and the future women of The Oakland Post. We truly can’t wait to see what the future holds for this organization.