Editor’s Note: All letters from the editor reflect the views of the editorial board only and do not represent a stance taken by The Collegian.

Dear readers,

Welcome to The Rocky Mountain Collegian, your student newspaper at Colorado State University. 

The Collegian is an independent newspaper housed under the not-for-profit Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation and has been since 2008. Our funding comes partly from advertising revenue and partly from student fees allocated to us by your student government, the Associated Students of CSU. 

At The Collegian, we like to say we are “for students, by students.” Although some of our funding does come from ASCSU/the university, we want to stress that we are completely independent from both entities. 

We are here to be an objective voice and platform for students and for our CSU faculty, staff, alumni and surrounding community.

It’s because of you, our fellow students, that we are able to deliver the news to campus and the broader Fort Collins community. If you see anything in the community you think we should be paying attention to, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

We want to hear from you — about events on campus, groups that are looking for representation, cool projects you’re working on, new businesses or bands in Fort Collins, any questions you have about something on campus or in the city that you want us to answer or literally anything else you care about.

You can contact us through email at news@collegian.com or editor@collegian.com, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @csucollegian or in person through our newsroom located in the basement of the Lory Student Center (room 118). 

The Collegian is an alt-weekly print publication that you can pick up for free around campus with new editions every Thursday. With an alt-weekly mindset (meaning “alternative,” not “alternate”), we strive to publish in-depth, relevant stories that you can enjoy at any time. In our print publications, you’ll also see more photos and creative, engaging designs than you would in a traditional newspaper. 

We also publish news online Monday through Thursday at collegian.com and deliver news straight to your inbox via our newsletter The Stump four days a week. If you’re wondering what’s happening on campus, what the score of last night’s game was or what new restaurant you should check out, visit our website and follow us on social media. 

Our mission at The Collegian is twofold: We want to deliver you information that is important and relevant to your lives, and we are also here to prepare CSU students for their future careers, whether they are going into journalism or not. 

For that reason, we want to invite you to join our staff! We are currently hiring reporters for the following sections: news, life and culture, cannabis, sports and arts and entertainment. We are also looking for copy editors, page designers, freelance illustrators and comic artists. 

We have student positions available on our opinion desk and photo desk, but those are more restrictive due to popular demand.

If you’re interested in being a reporter or learning what that’s about, sign up for our training program. We have three rounds of training each semester, with each round taking up five weeks. The program takes only one hour each week and will teach you more about The Collegian’s structure and history, go through the steps of how to be a reporter and provide you with the opportunity to shadow a current reporter to get a good feel for the job.

Sign up for our training program at tinyurl.com/collegiantraining.

Not sold yet? Our positions are paid! The training program counts as volunteer time, but once you’re through it and decide to stick with us, you will be compensated $15-25 per article you write. We know it’s nothing glamorous, but just a few hours a week will allow you to treat yourself to a dinner off campus and get you professionally published work to add to your resume. 

I might be biased, but The Collegian is a great way to get involved on campus, learn about the area, figure out what you want to do with your life and provide you with professional experience that is sure to land you a job after (or during) college. 

Once again, please reach out to me, Serena Bettis, your 2022-23 editor in chief, or any of our other editorial staff members, if you have any questions or suggestions. 

Happy move-in!

Serena Bettis, editor in chief

Taylor Paumen, content managing editor

Falyn Sebastian, digital managing editor

Reach the editorial board at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.