Dear readers of The Varsity, I hope this message finds you well!

I am writing my final letter for a few selfish reasons, the first being to thank you for joining me here. I know it isn’t always easy to check out our latest issue online, or at Robarts downtown, or by the doors of the Science Wing at UTSC, but I am glad you found your way here. Please, make yourself at home.

One Saturday morning, I showed up at The Varsity’s office at 21 Sussex too early for production, and paced the sidewalk across the street to kill time. Looking up at the old bricks and wrought iron railings of the building, you could hardly imagine the factory it becomes every weekend. In a year, hundreds of students enter these doors to copy-edit, design, proofread, take photos, illustrate, and sometimes, they’re just here for the free snacks. 

I signed up to write for The Varsity back in 2023, knowing very little about the paper and even less about student journalism. I’d like to thank James for encouraging me to toss my hat in the ring and apply to be an Associate Science Editor. 

Salma, the Volume 144 Science Editor, decided to take me on after working through exactly one article with me over the summer. I have no way of knowing what she saw in me, but I was lucky she did. Her insight and care with my first piece at The Varsity was the greatest introduction to the paper I could have ever asked for. Salma gave me the opportunity to be a part of this beautiful group of students, and for that, I will always be grateful. 

The more time I spent within the asbestos-laced walls of our little office, the more bewitched I became with The Varsity. My years of neuroscience and psychology courses tell me that it’s extremely unlikely that I could develop an addiction to a physical space, but it certainly felt like I never wanted to leave. I have my lovely staff to thank for this.

Thank you to Chloe for indulging my amateur design ideas, and thank you to Sophie for being my much-needed voice of reason on long production days. Thank you to Jake for being our human AI detector and consistent good vibes each Sunday, and thank you to Ozair for handling the intricacies of external relations. I’d like to give a special thank you to Callie and Raina for stepping up this year for our Copy team; we could not function without you.

Thank you to Sofia, for bringing new voices and perspectives of Arts & Culture to the paper, and for your ever-present honesty. Thank you to Ahmed for bearing with my rounds and rounds of edits, and thank you for treating us all with your bright personality each day. Thank you to Caroline for your consistency in covering Sports from an athlete’s eyes, and thank you to Medha for a pitch-perfect year of Business & Labour. Thank you to Shontia for coordinating our gorgeous Magazines (look out for GAZE on stands soon), and thank you to Ridhi for trading sleep for our scientific enlightenment. To Ella, Junia, Emma, Arunveer, Matthew, and Ashley, thank you for your attention to detail and commitment to campus news.

Thank you to Aksaamai and Brennan for being amazing listeners and enablers while working your Design magic, and thank you to everyone who helped me fill out my TOROAST stamp cards. To Erika, you joined us partway through the year and brought striking colour to our pages. To Simona, thank you for sharing your art, humour, and stories with us.

Thank you to Emily and PF for keeping our dinosaur of a website in motion, and for your skilled work bringing our magazines to the internet. A special thanks to Aryaman and our Board for all your support navigating this year. 

While it has been a rewarding journey, we faced our fair share of difficult decisions this year, specifically involving AI-generated articles. As a life sciences student, it would be remiss of me to spurn AI in its entirety and ignore the valuable work that so many scientists are pursuing. This does not mean that AI has a place in every workspace. 

I have seen an unfortunate increase in AI-generated article submissions in my time here, and my position on this remains unchanged: We should not be publishing AI-generated content as if a student wrote it. 

This year, I am amending The Varsity’s Operating Policy to allow a maximum of two submissions using AI before a student may not contribute for the remainder of the volume. In each case, section editors and management will decide whether the article can be rewritten by the author in their own words, or if it will be reassigned or cancelled. The Varsity is an outlet for student voices, and as such, I cannot endorse using AI to share what should be your thoughts, your words, and your experiences with the wider community. 

I love this paper, and I am looking forward to seeing its future. Junia, our Deputy News Editor, will be taking over next year as EIC. If I have learned anything from working with her on this volume, it is that her passion for journalistic integrity is second to none. Good luck — I’ll be cheering you on from the Varsity graveyard.

If you’ve made it this far into my heartfelt goodbye, I apologize! I have never been one for short farewells, but if you take one thing away from this message, let it be this: 

Always support the student voice, always be kind, and always, always, always, stay curious. 

— Medha Surajpal, Editor-in-Chief, Volume CXLVI