The 2024 election has been called many things: momentous, pivotal, contentious. But for many Stanford students, another word applies to this election cycle — introductory.

The 2024 election will be many undergraduates’ first and only presidential election during their time at the University. This marks an important opportunity for students, who fall in the age bracket least likely to vote, to civically engage during an unprecedented election cycle. 

This summer, we have seen a historic election take shape, from the assassination attempts against Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump, to President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race. 

The election also comes at a time when journalism and journalists have been under attack from across the political spectrum, and when misinformation spreads more rapidly than ever. On our own campus, a Daily reporter currently faces potential disciplinary charges after being arrested while reporting on a student protest — one of many such cases against student journalists across the country over the past year.

Voting in this election is a civic duty and vital to the United States’ longevity as a democracy, as three Stanford deans argued in a Daily op-ed.

But, the democratic practice is not limited to participating in a single election every four years. Instead, democracy is active, impacting students each and every day.

As members of The Daily, a student-run independent newspaper serving Stanford and the surrounding community, we make it our mission to shed light on issues that profoundly affect our democracy. This includes protests in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war, students’ reported experiences with sexual misconduct, graduate workers’ ongoing union negotiations, changes to college admissions practices and student initiatives to educate the community on ballot measures and mail-in voting.

In parallel, we have supported our staff through training and ongoing discussions on how best to exercise our own First Amendment rights. In these challenging moments, we aspire to rise to the challenge of providing high-quality, objective student journalism to the community.

As you leaf through this democracy special issue, we urge you to find something at stake in our community that you didn’t know before. At the same time, we also urge you to make use of your other democratic powers: vote, make your voice heard and support student journalism.

Linda Liu, Editor-in-Chief

Luc Alvarez and Itzel Luna, Executive Editors