BROOKE THAMES;Â Editor-in-Chief;Â thamesbe@plu.edu
Seventeen-year-old me used to say she couldn’t imagine ever being 21. Now, 21-year-old me says she doesn’t know where the time went. At the end of my junior year, staring my final college stint in the face, I’m shocked at how quickly I’ve grown up. I’m also puzzled by how much I haven’t changed compared to my surroundings.
My first year at PLU, Ordal Hall didn’t have heated floors and Foss was fully functional. The contents of the Lute Locker used to fill an entire warehouse at Garfield Book Store, and Trolli Eggs were the hottest commodity for frequent Old Main Market shoppers.
So much has changed at PLU in three short years. Meanwhile, I’m still listening to the same handful of 2010 Ke$ha singles like they’re today’s hits.
Changes still continue to affect campus moving into the 2017-2018 school year, most notably the change in presidential leadership as Thomas Krise steps away. This issue, News features the interim president, Allan Belton, and the associate president, Joanna Gregson, discussing their new roles and the transition that lies ahead.
Sports Editor Dylan Foreman reports on the Athletics Department’s continual efforts to balance the playing field when it comes to gender in sports. Opinion sees an article by guest writer Marsia Johnson, who discusses how her image of PLU has changed over the course of her first year.
Even the face of the Mast continues to transform as some student leaders, editors and reporters move on from their current positions. LASR General Manager Jeff Dunn and Copy Editors Kiana Norman-Slack, Emily Khilfeh and Amelia Brummel graduate this May.
Though my music taste may be stuck in the past, I also am changing, learning and growing through the position of Editor-in-Chief — a job I will continue next year. I’m excited to observe, report on and participate in the changes to come in PLU’s culture, its leadership and its student media organization.
Until next year, Lutes!
