Welcome home, Rams! Whether you’re sitting down to read this in your brand new dorm room or returning to campus after a summer away, let me be the first to welcome you to The Rocky Mountain Collegian, your source for all news related to Colorado State University and Fort Collins.

My name is Allie Seibel, and I am the editor in chief of The Collegian. A little bit about us: The Collegian was founded in 1891 and will be 132 years old this December. What started as a weekly student newspaper back when CSU was Colorado Agricultural College transitioned to a daily paper for decades, printing both local and national news for students. If you’re ever curious to learn some deep history about CSU, our archives are both in the library and in the Rocky Mountain Student Media offices in the basement of the Lory Student Center.

The paper has changed a lot over time: In 2019, we stopped being a daily and switched to being what is called an alt-weekly newspaper. “Alt” stands for “alternative” and not “alternate.” The pandemic was exceptionally hard on the news industry, and coupled with the constant push away from print media, we transitioned into becoming a larger paper that publishes daily online and weekly in print. Catch our colorful covers and in-depth papers on stands around campus (and Fort Collins) each Thursday.

Perhaps the most unique part of The Collegian (and something I’m particularly proud of) is that we are a fully independent student newspaper. We do receive our funding in part from a longstanding contract with the Associated Students of Colorado State University, but the rest is funded by our advertisers. In 2008, Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation formed as a unique and independent corporation completely free from the university. While we do cover CSU and have strong working relationships with professionals and experts at the university, we are your source for independent news.

That means you can count on us for your unbiased local news. We’ll be with you throughout every step of the way this year, looking out for you when things change, alerting you when something is breaking, informing you of cultural campus events and teaching you more about the beautiful beating heart of CSU — the campus and community. We’re not afraid to ask the hard questions about things you might wonder, such as where your tuition and fee money directly goes or how the leaders of CSU are preparing for the future as our university continues to grow. We are here for our readers, as we are all students ourselves.

We want to hear from you this year: anything you see that you think we should be paying attention to, whether that be breaking news or events you’d like to see us at. We’re here for you, and we want this paper to be yours as much as it is ours.

As we begin this exciting new chapter in CSU history, we’d love to have you join us. Our mission at The Collegian is to be an enriching and gratifying academic extracurricular opportunity for students of all majors. While most of our students are journalism majors looking to get professional experience in the field, we also have students from almost every college and a host of different majors.

All abilities and interests are welcomed at The Collegian. We have a fantastic photo desk that is constantly winning awards and always looking to meet new photographers. Our design desk illustrates beautiful graphics for stories and also draws weekly comic strips. Our print design team has the gratifying job of designing the paper once a week, and our copy desk is always hiring copy editors to help proofread stories as well.

For writers, we have six desks: news, which covers campus, city and state news; life and culture, which covers anything from cultural events to restaurants and businesses in Fort Collins; arts and entertainment, which focuses on music, art and performances in the area; sports, which features both division CSU teams and intramural coverage; opinion, the perfect place for any budding columnist; and our brand-new science desk.

The passion project of a few of us on staff, the science desk will be your go-to spot for news of research endeavors around campus. The science culture of CSU and Fort Collins in general is rich and fascinating, and we cannot wait to inform you of some of the discoveries made right here on campus.

We’re currently seeking student freelance reporters for all of our desks, as well as freelance photographers and illustrators. If you’re interested in working with us, sign up for training here, or stop by our newsroom in the LSC (Room 118) to get more information. All of our positions are paid, with freelancers making $15-25 per assignment. If you love it here, we have opportunities for advancement to hourly roles as well. Published work looks great on any resume, and we are a great place to learn and grow.

I can confidently say that The Collegian is an amazing home and place to belong on campus. I remember being in your shoes as a new student, and I found a community of kind and like-minded people in that office in the basement of the LSC. The Collegian has given me some of my most favorite memories, and I hope it could become a similar home for you.

Once more, my name is Allie Seibel, your editor in chief of The Collegian on behalf of our entire editorial board. Feel free to reach out with news tips, questions or just to learn more at editor@collegian.com.

Have a great first week, Rams!

Allie Seibel, editor in chief

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