Editing a publication which cuts against the grain of public opinion on campus is challenging, enlightening, and incredibly rewarding. Our publication is either heavily scrutinized so it can be criticized or it is dismissed completely. It is sometimes picked up and discussed vigorously and sometimes thrown into the garbage soon after distribution. Sometimes we get strong agreement from our readers, and occasionally we engage in a friendly sparring session with our counterparts at The Monitor (though I believe we have a perfect record against them). Coming to the end of my tenure as editor-in-chief, I want to share some of my most rewarding experiences while publishing Enquiry.

On one occasion, an acquaintance mentioned to me that what he liked most about Enquiry is that it often examines conclusions that must be so obviously true that they don’t merit a deeper look. Of course the firebrand candidate for president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, shouldn’t be elected, until we ran an article examining the base of his support and why it supported him despite the controversies. Of course the college’s endowment should divest from fossil fuels, until one of our pieces pointed out that investment returns may suffer and the lack of evidence that divestment would meaningfully combat climate change. This acquaintance did not agree with these views, but he recognized that we have tried to examine the roots of supposedly unassailable positions and found them sometimes to be wanting.

Faculty members have reached out to me on multiple occasions as well. They have either commented positively or challenged some of the arguments in our pieces. In both cases, I am grateful for their comments. They have sharpened my own writing, editing, and argumentative skills and reinforced the importance of minimizing chinks in the armor that could be validly criticized. Faculty members have shown that they read our publication and are willing to engage in discussion as well. For this I am grateful.

Perhaps my most rewarding experience as an editor was when a close friend said to me: “Thank you for taking the positions you do. Someone had to say it.” This is emblematic of a larger problem at colleges, the fact that students find it difficult to dissent. This comes about for a variety of reasons, but chiefly, I believe, because it is difficult to be a lone voice. We aim to rectify that. A student might find it difficult to be the lone voice challenging his or her friends, but when we publish articles, we hope they will spark such conversations. We hope that students can point to something we published, say “this is a good point,” and continue the discussion. While I am sometimes disheartened that there are so few voices for the kinds of views we often publish in Enquiry, I have faith that there are conversations we helped spark to which we are not privy.

Tangentially, I have often wondered what percentage of the student body at Hamilton finds itself right-of-center, and I have wavered between “a very small percentage” and “a healthy minority.” To this day, I am not certain which it is. But I do believe a large number of Hamilton students are critical thinkers, and also that many agree with our staff writers on many occasions. They are willing to hear different opinions and evaluate each on its own merits. My message to those students is simple: Stand up for what you believe in. Don’t believe that you must always agree or disagree with someone. Find common ground and go from there.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who makes Enquiry possible. Thanks to all of our staff, who write, edit, lay out, and distribute our publication every week. In particular, I want to thank Helen Sternberg, Enquiry’s layout editor for four years. She has been pivotal in ensuring visual consistency and high standards for every one of our editions across the years. Thank you to the Alexander Hamilton Institute, which supports us, and Dr. David Frisk, whose editing and stylistic guidance are invaluable. Thank you to my friends and family, who have supported me throughout my time at Hamilton, including the stresses of Enquiry deadlines. And finally, the biggest “thank you” goes to our readers. We aim to stir minds and make you think critically. Seeing the fruits of our labors, on campus and by e-mail, keeps us going every week.