When The Tangerine’s staff was assembled last April, we knew we were in for a challenge.

It was a staff with plenty of new names, and even those who had been around were in brand new positions of leadership.

And there was pressure on this group. We had heard the grumblings from those on campus and even within the journalism department. The Tangerine was coming off a few rough years, and we were tasked with fixing it, or at least bringing it back to where it should be.

We needed to raise the bar.

It hasn’t been easy, and we have been nowhere near perfect, but at the end of the day, we think we have done a pretty good job. We hope you agree and have enjoyed the coverage of campus news over the past 24 issues.

It has certainly helped that this year has been full of big news—most of it good—here at UC.

We began the school year much like we ended last year. We were still waiting for that often-talked about, yet still not built, dome. Now, nine months later, the Hutt has become the premier facility on campus, as it hosts track meets, intramurals, practices and workouts for students.

It finally gave the track and field team a home to practice. The return came quickly, as just last weekend, the men clinched their first-ever Empire 8 title, while the women finished in second.

A busy first semester saw the construction of the Cynkus Family Welcome Center, a beautiful first impression for those considering spending the next four years in the Mohawk Valley. As the 2015-2016 academic year saw a record number of freshman enroll, it appears that the Welcome Center will be used quite extensively in the future.

Also early in the first semester, we saw the tuition reset. UC decided to cut tuition by 42 percent and with that came local, statewide and national headlines. Of course, The Tangerine had that covered, and a few weeks later, we sat down with the school’s top officials to have them explain the math behind it.

While students went home to relax over winter break, those involved in UC’s presidential search did anything but that, as they worked hard and diligently to narrow 113 original candidates down to just three finalists.

When students came to campus to start the new semester, so did the presidential candidates, hoping they would be at the helm the following semester.

Students were given an opportunity to meet with each one, and The Tangerine covered the whole process. It became the go-to news source for all-things UC, but especially those things relating to the presidential search.

We sat down for the exclusive first interview with President-elect Laura Casamento, and just two weeks ago, we sat down with President Hutton for one of his final interviews.

Through it all, we have developed an online presence, something that hasn’t been around in our past. If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out uticatangerine.com.

The end of this semester is bittersweet. Yes, it gives us time to reflect on the progress we’ve made and the shortcomings we couldn’t fix. But it is also the end of our time here at UC.

We feel we have made our mark on The Tangerine and have left a strong example for future staff members to follow.

While most of our group is graduating and heading out into the scary real world, James McClendon, currently our assistant news editor, will take over as Editor-in-Chief next fall.

We know he will do a great job, and hope he’ll lead an energetic staff that has the same goal as we did all year.

That goal, and the goal of all future staffs is simple. Raise the bar.

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