Dear Community,

On Sunday, exactly one year after we first assumed our roles, we will end our time as the executive team of The Daily. In our first letter from the editors, we discussed our desire to bring back this column in the hopes of increasing the accessibility and transparency of The Daily’s executive team. Several installments and two volumes later, and we are penning our last — bittersweet — letter: a goodbye to this paper and the people who made it home. 

When we joined The Daily during the fall of our freshman years, we could have never imagined the impact this institution would have on our lives. Coming into these roles, we knew the late nights were a nonnegotiable, but we had no idea that between the endless editing sessions and early morning coffees, this unassuming building at the center of campus would become more than an office. 

What seems like infinite hours spent at The Daily house — or more aptly, home — have paid off. In no particular order, our time has included the production of three special issues: The Big Game issue, the 2025 Commencement issue and the spring Mental Health issue. We also introduced regular “Ask an Editor” events at On Call Café, expanded our Games section to include the Stanfordle, and just this fall, increased our print paper from eight pages to 12 pages. We have hosted countless campus leaders, University administrators, local politicians, student entrepreneurs and important alumni, publishing hundreds of stories across campus groups and interests.

We set historic records of joy when we regained The X-Acto Knife — on the same day that Stanford regained The Axe — during the Ink Bowl, our annual game of flag football against The Daily Californian.

Perhaps most notably, we launched a lawsuit against the federal government to fight for the rights of our paper to print and publish the voices of international students in the Stanford community without fear of retaliation. The case is ongoing following the judge’s rejection of the government’s motion to dismiss.

While we are incredibly proud of everything The Daily has accomplished over the course of this volume, none of it could have happened without the incredible managing editors, desk editors, columnists, beat reporters, staff writers and contributors, all working on a volunteer basis. From returning members to the 74 new faces we onboarded in the fall, we are honored to have had the privilege of working with such a wildly dedicated team.

Though we will miss our roles, we know we are leaving The Daily in exceedingly capable hands. We are excited for you to meet the Volume 269 executive team, George Porteous ’27, Amina Wase ’26 and Anna Yang ’27. 

Next week, when we retire from Slack and Notion and finally exhale, we hope to leave behind a legacy of community, trust and transparency. This institution has shaped and stretched us in innumerable ways that we will forever be grateful for. 

To every student journalist (or friend of a student journalist): thank you. What we are doing matters today, and every day. We are honored to have contributed to the mission of strong and independent reporting that highlights campus quirks, holds those in power accountable and represents the voices of a community.

And to The Stanford Daily, we may not be editors anymore but we will always be your biggest readers.

Best,

Greta Reich ’26

Lauren Koong ’26

Ananya Udaygiri ’26