Letter from the Editor: What You Can Expect from The Tower This Year

By MaggieMae Dethlefsen 

As the oldest organization on campus, The Tower has been dedicated to serving the CUA community as well as the greater Brookland community as a reliable, honest, and unbiased weekly news source. This year, the 104th year of The Tower, my managing editor, Elliana Arnold, and I set out to determine how best to continue serving the community on three pillars.

Integrity

Integrity is the foundation upon which every news source, from high school to professional level, should be working. Without it, you lose credibility, which is of the utmost importance for The Tower. Integrity means more than simply being honest—it means holding ourselves accountable to the truth, even when the truth is uncomfortable or unfavorable. It means committing to fact-checking, verifying sources, and ensuring that every article is a product of diligence and care.

Our integrity demands that we approach every story with an open mind and without bias, no matter the topic or the people involved. It reminds us that journalism is not about confirming our own perspectives but about discovering and presenting the truth as it is. While this sometimes means that stories will be critical, we will present the facts of the story in a fair and unbiased way. We want to present events that we report on as they happened, without any caricature or reframing by our writers. In doing so, we protect the reputation of The Tower and uphold the public’s trust—a trust that has taken years to build. 

Integrity also extends beyond the written word. It is reflected in how we treat our peers, our readers, and the people we interview. Every interaction, every editorial choice, and every headline must reflect our commitment to ethical journalism. For us, integrity is not a single act—it is a constant practice.

Service

News is, at its core, a service to the people. It exists not for the sake of the publication, but for the sake of the community it works with. At The Tower, we take this very seriously. The stories we tell should inform, engage, and empower our readers to better understand the world around them—whether that world is the Catholic University campus, the Brookland neighborhood, or the larger D.C. community.

Service means being attentive to the voices that often go unheard and bringing those perspectives into the light. It means highlighting both the triumphs and the challenges within our community, and giving equal space to joy and to accountability. 

When we choose which stories to tell, we do so with the question in mind: Who will this story serve? If our news helps inform, uplift, or connect our readers, then we know we are fulfilling our mission. Journalism, when done right, strengthens communities. It builds bridges between students, faculty, staff, and neighbors. With our focus on service, The Tower becomes not just a publication but a shared space for discussion, reflection, and growth.

Excellence

The Tower expects a lot of its writers because we want to deliver the highest quality of material to our community. Excellence is not about perfection—it is about a relentless pursuit of improvement. Every issue we publish should reflect growth from the last, as we continue to refine our writing, our editing, and our storytelling.

We hold ourselves to a high standard because our readers deserve nothing less. Excellence means going beyond what is required: researching thoroughly, writing thoughtfully, and editing carefully. It means respecting the craft of journalism, understanding that every word has weight and that every sentence shapes perception. From us, you will know that we are doing our due diligence on every piece that is published.

Excellence also means collaboration. Behind every article is a team of dedicated writers, editors, and photographers who work tirelessly to ensure that The Tower reflects the best of what student journalism can be. It means taking feedback with humility and using it to make our work stronger. In living up to our tradition of high-standard journalism, we seek to produce stories that are not only well-written and well-researched but that also resonate with authenticity and purpose.The Tower will continue to evolve and to strive to meet the commitment that has defined it for more than a century. As new forms of storytelling and digital platforms change over time, our commitment to excellence, integrity, and service will remain our reason and joy.