By Gabrielle Moore, Editor-in-Chief
Empowerment. This was the main driving force (and still is) at the forefront of my mind when I began this online newspaper. The Howler is about sharing each other’s stories with one another in a proper and respectful manner, but most importantly, it is about strengthening students’ empowerment and voices within them. With great empowerment comes great self-awareness, self-respect, and self-acceptance, and this responsibility is present in all of us. As much as this news staff write the stories, it is the student-body and the entire Lone Star College-Kingwood community that we turn to for the voices in those stories. What I have seen in this first year of The Howler news production is a small but magnificent growth of that empowerment among the staffers, editors, and the student body. Understand that The Howler is in-between its baby and toddler stages; nevertheless, as our adviser Professor Icess Fernandez has often referred to this blossomed entity, we, The Howler has entered into its own legacy.
This legacy can be seen and felt through my successor, Emily Slater. I am honored to announce Emily as the next Editor-in-Chief of The Howler to carry this student organization into the 2017-2018 school year. Emily started on The Howler as a reporter and Copy Editor and later finished the Spring 2017 semester as the News Editor. As one of the many Howler members to understand and embody the qualities, principles, and mission of The Howler, I am amazed by what she is to bring to The Howler in the coming school year as the newest executive leader and excited to see how this legacy grows.
I would like to take out this time to acknowledge and say a huge thank you to, first and foremost, my editors and staff for not only contributing your ideas, hard work, and voices to this publication but for also making my tenure as Editor-in-Chief memorable and content. Thank you so much to my newspaper adviser Professor Fernandez for being our guide, our cheerleader, our biggest advocate, our newspaper mama, for your expertise and beauty brought so much light to this organization. I would also like to thank Dr. Darlene Beaman and Dean James Stubbs for all of your help and unconditional support and love for The Howler. And last but certainly not least, thank you to all of faculty, staff, and my fellow students, for without you there would not be The Howler.
“I’m convinced of this: good done anywhere is good done everywhere. For a change, start by speaking to people rather than walking by them like they’re stones that don’t matter. As long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late to do some good.” What the late Maya Angelou is speaking on here is acknowledging people, their individuality, self-worth, and livelihood. Moreover, in this case, forming The Howler was about more than just doing good, but doing something meaningful for my fellow students. To empower others is what I striven for in The Howler and what I aspire to be the ultimate goal in the interminable life of The Howler at LSC-Kingwood.
I am beyond happy to have seen The Howler come to fruition, and I welcome The Howler legacy with new EIC Emily Slater to the coming year.
Gabrielle Moore
Outgoing Editor-in-Chief