Rain coming down and tulips sprouting means that Eastern is about to see another rotation of seniors exiting and incoming freshmen entering, fresh notebooks and sharpened pencils in tow. With this rotation comes change for every student organization on campus, and The Waltonian is no different.
The Eastern student-body may have realized that The Waltonian has had a brand change in the past couple of years. Our current seniors have been a driving force behind the change from an “academic journal feel” to an accessible and enjoyable student publication with an engaging social media presence. Three seniors in The Waltonian have been around since their freshman year, and four others joined along the way in various writing, leadership and media positions.
The seniors have a variety of specialties and motivations for working for The Waltonian. Josh Steen joined his sophomore year as a guest writer, and quickly fell in love with writing about what he wanted to find out about Eastern. One example is getting curious about the recycling program here, calling the company Eastern has a contract with and asking “where does it actually go?”
After floating around to different leadership positions, Daniel Finegan found his niche by writing about controversial opinions and hot takes he has. However, his favorite article he got to write was the review of the Templeton building’s opening, because of the different people he got to interview.
Jason ‘just a photographer’ Karch, was recently promoted to head photographer. He was one of The Waltonian’s first media only roles hired when it expanded to have a media team working conjointly with the editorial staff. Karch’s highlights of being a staffer were getting to capture “video and photo for the first ever NCAA win for [Eastern] football history.”
The Waltonian’s Editor-in-chief for two years, Hannah Bonanducci, cited a favorite moment was working as a team on The Waltonian’s Day of Giving campaign. In 2025, the team raised around $3,000, and in 2026 raised a total of $5,100 with the help of over 100 donors. That money will be used to help give Waltonian staffers access to industry standard tools and workshops to continue to learn and grow in their craft.
During the seniors’ stints at the paper, much has changed for the better. Steen, Finnegan and Lenora Kirkland commented on how much structure and care has been put into The Waltonian while they have been a part of the team. Kirkland, who has been an editor since her freshman year, said “we had a ton of mistakes. It wasn’t super well organized, and it’s definitely a lot more organized now.”
Karch, Anisah Smith, Paul McConnell and Bonanducci cited The Waltonian’s increase in media presence as the most noticeable improvement in the newspaper’s structure during their time at Eastern. “We’ve had way more online viewers than ever,” Karch said. “I think moving that way is going to be smarter for the alumni to be able to read the stories rather than just students.”
Bonanducci added “our writing didn’t really reflect our community.” Now, articles are expected to include interviews and student perspectives. Under Bonanducci’s leadership, the paper “went from barely being able to get eight people on staff to having a 35 person newsroom,” with staff and leadership in both media and writing.
Looking to the future, the seniors all had great hopes for The Waltonian as an important institution on campus. Smith, digital content managing editor, hoped for consistency with social media posting schedules. Finegan hopes to go beyond the Eastern community and start reporting more on Philly events. Sports editor McConnell is betting on a stronger partnership with Eastern athletics. Kirkland hopes student engagement continues to increase within Eastern as a whole.
Karch joins Steen and Bonanduci as seniors who have won awards through the Pennsylvania Newsmedia Association, and he wants the paper to continue their streak of creating award winning work. Meanwhile, Steen hopes writers continue to write “provocative pieces.” He clarified, “that the writers can get bolder and really speak truth to power in some kind of scary but also necessary ways.”
Bonanducci hopes The Waltonian continues to fundraise, grow in staff and win more awards. Additionally, she wants students to continue to have the initiative and confidence “to create their own things.” She hopes for more collaboration between writers and media staff.
All of The Waltonian senior staffers were genuinely grateful for what The Waltonian had to offer them. During their time on staff, the newspaper taught them about their work ethic, improved their writing and trained them how to talk and listen in an inquisitive manner.
Steen and Karch both learned the importance of journalistic styles of things they already loved and knew how to do, writing and photography respectively. As a sports photographer, Karch said that, “being able to tell stories in a journalistic way with photos rather than just taking photos for fun,” will be something he takes with him as he enters into the adult world. As a social work major Steen shared, “I really started focusing on writing as a form of activism, or as a form of uplifting voices that aren’t heard.”
Bonanducci, a staff member at The Waltonian for her entire Eastern career, wanted students to remember that The Waltonian “is a learning space; it’s okay if you don’t know how to do something. What we care about is that you want to do something. Everything else is figure-outible. Don’t be afraid to create things. Don’t be afraid to try things, and it’s so important that you are curious about the world.”
The Waltonian team will miss these seven seniors, but the newspaper is stronger because of them. Though it is losing integral members of its staff, the 75 year-old publication will continue to be a platform to amplify student voices and stories.
