It’s never not a crazy time for the Opinion section — I certainly did not escape this volume unscathed.

From opining on President Gertler’s meeting at Parliament, to Justin Trudeau’s resignation as Prime Minister, to U of T’s academic tribunal, the Opinion section covered it all. But apart from the big flashy stories, this section was also keen on showcasing the ‘smaller,’ ‘innocuous’ stories: the racialized experience on campus, finding love through a U of T dating app, and of course, pigeons.

If you are reading this letter in print, you might also see my Farcity article that I’ve written on the other side of this paper. As I said in my ironic-but-also-not-ironic humour article and my Letter from the Editor at the beginning of this volume, these personal stories are what I, as a reader and editor, enjoy seeing the most. And, I find that the perceived idea of what neutrality looks like, or must constitute, often obstructs more than assists in the sharing of valuable stories.

I stepped into this role on May 1 last year. On May 2 at 4:00 am, the student encampment at King’s College Circle began. I was quickly met with the realization that Opinion articles on campus protests and the casualties in Israel and Palestine would show no sign of slowing down. I took on this position knowing it would not be easy and that I’d be replying to angry emails every other weekend. Despite this, I never regretted becoming the Opinion Editor.

The Varsity wrote an Editorial on the encampment, which went on to get nominated by the Canadian University Press for a John H. McDonald award in Opinion writing. We didn’t win, but at least I learned that the first Tim Hortons restaurant to ever exist was in Hamilton, Ontario, where we attended the award ceremony.

It’s always challenging to write about controversial topics. But that’s exactly what the Opinion section is here for: to have difficult conversations. 

From Op-eds about hate groups on campus, to analyzing the effectiveness of divestment, to Letters to the Editor about The Varsity’s coverage on the Middle East, the Opinion section had no shortage of commentary about student protests in the past year.

I feel especially grateful for those who have written Letters to the Editor — not only about our content but also about The Varsity’s policies. These serve as an opportunity to tell us how we, as a paper, can improve our coverage and hold ourselves accountable. Though I will be stepping down as Opinion Editor very soon, I would always encourage students and faculty to continue writing us letters. 

I cannot emphasize this enough: we want to hear from you.

I, of course, could not have done this without the help of a phenomenal team. I need to first thank my Associate Opinion Editors, Shontia Sanders and Avin De. The two anchors of this section were always ready to fill in with last-minute articles or handle edits whenever I had a last-minute assignment to turn in on Quercus. 

To Emma Dobrovnik, Ahmed Hawamdeh, Ragini Kaushal, Vesa Lunji, Yousuf Ramahi, Ayesha Siddiqui, Ava Reitmaier Stone, and Oleksii Varlamov — I thank them all for being wonderful columnists who consistently brought their unique takes to the Opinion section. 

As Volume 145 comes to an end soon, so will President Meric Gertler’s 12-year term at Simcoe Hall. If you’ve been skimming through this section throughout the volume, you’d probably have noticed that students never seem to run out of things to say about our President. 

When Gertler steps out and Melanie Woodin succeeds him, I can only hope that the Opinion section’s coverage of the U of T President will continue to be as spectacular. I’ll be sure to tune in as an alumna.

I hope that those who have contributed to my section in this volume will continue their time at The Varsity. And I hope that those who are reading this and haven’t yet contributed to our paper will do so in the following volume. I can tell you right now that the pieces that do the best in the Opinion section are the ones specifically about U of T, and I’m sure many of you have thoughts about the university you attend.

It’s a profoundly important thing to share stories and opinions with your peers — I truly believe that. I trust that whoever succeeds me will be an amazing, if not even better, Opinion Editor.

— Charmaine Yu, Opinion Editor, Volume CLXV