Anyone who knows me knows that The Stanford Daily is my home away from home — the place on campus into which I have poured my time, energy, heart and soul over the past three years. The Daily should not just be for writers and editors to find refuge and purpose, though. As Editor in Chief, I want to ensure that The Stanford Daily holds a place on this campus as an outlet for all student voices and issues.

This volume, The Daily will strive to spark meaningful conversations through its coverage in an effort to facilitate engagement among and with communities. These open lines of communication promote a culturally, emotionally, mentally and physically healthy campus. As a student publication, The Stanford Daily is your platform to reflect your thoughts, questions and opinions as students of Stanford University.

The Daily is the only news organization that exclusively covers one of the preeminent universities in the world. We have the opportunity to reflect the student voice, inform the student population and hold Stanford University accountable. Today, more than ever, we are witness to national issues playing out on college campuses. Issues of sexual assault, mental health, diversity and Greek life have all rocked Stanford’s campus in the past year. The Daily is in a position to transcend its identity as just a source of news and become the nexus between intellectual conversations and stimulating debate on campus.

Providing the student body with a platform to express themselves and share their experiences on campus is very important to us. It’s with tremendous excitement that The Daily launches the Grind: off-beat but on-point. a snapshot of campus life. by stanford students for stanford students.

To be a Stanford student is to rise and grind. Life is hard at times but we get through it and succeed. We grind out great work at the end of the day while cultivating our passions. The Grind is your space within The Daily to reflect on those experiences. It’s a student life blog that seeks to illuminate student dialogue on campus. We’ll be posting content that resonates with students and engages with different parts of our lives on campus. How you use it is up to you, but we welcome you to share your voice, your passions or anything you find important through the Grind.

I wanted to dedicate a part of The Daily to authentic student voices; to create a section that functions as a forum for something other than campus news: a pulse on the student experience. Much of my growth on this campus, and acceptance of who I am and who I hope to become have been teased out in the pages of The Daily. It’s time that The Daily provides that same service to the rest of the student body.

As I wrote in my welcome column at the start of last year, when I graduate from Stanford, my diploma will read that I majored in American Studies. However, I know — and all of my friends inside and outside of The Daily know — I will be graduating this spring with a degree in The Stanford Daily. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Together we can make The Daily matter again. I’m giving you the keys: Take them and run.

Contact Ashley Westhem at awesthem ‘at’ stanford.edu.