STAFF EDITORIAL: Thank you, and good night

The 115th Board thanks you for your readership, reflects on the year that was and turns the reins over to the 116th. One last chance to add context; to advocate, reprimand or applaud; to wax poetic or prosaic, to sound profound or lighthearted. Today, the 115th Board of Editors steps down. Tomorrow, the 116th Board takes our place. You ask what this year was? Words cannot do it justice. But ask where we stood, and we have this to say: We sought to stand on the side of progress. The side of justice and truth. And if that sounds idealistic, we mean nothing more than this -- we stood up for the right of the Penn community to know the whole truth. We stood up for our readers, and we tried to give them the information they needed to be complete members of this community. Members of this community. That, perhaps, best describes us, too. No group loves Penn more. And so, no group is quicker to criticize this community -- or any part of it -- when it fails to be the best it can be. We are the 115th Board of Managers and Editors, and for a year now, we have toiled tirelessly behind the scenes, working to inform and to edify, to entertain and to amuse, to learn and to grow. We have worked together, fought together and lived together, all because we love this campus and this paper and this University. All because we believed -- even when we could not admit it to ourselves -- in the power of this medium and the value of this experience. The alcohol controversy was our biggest story; the deaths of two students in bike accidents our saddest; the unprecedented construction boom the part of this year that will perhaps linger longest in the minds of Penn students. Our regrets are few. To be sure, we have erred and strayed; we have not always acted as we would in retrospect. We angered some and pleased others; but most of all, we worked to meet our own expectations. Perhaps nothing is as difficult as that. Our standards were higher than any you could have set for us. And while we met those standards most of the time, we certainly fell short on occasion. For that, we apologize -- and beg forgiveness on the grounds that we honestly believe we never made the same mistake twice. And so, we add our names to the 114 boards who proceeded us. Laying down our pen, we join the DP's history and leave the present to those who follow. We have complete confidence in our successors, the 116th Board. Seize this moment, glory in this opportunity and never forget your responsibility to the community and to your predecessors. Our greatest wish for you is that a year from now, you feel as fulfilled as we do today. And you, who read us daily and valued our efforts, you have our thanks. Without your readership, our work would have been for nothing. Tomorrow is another day, for us more than most. Thank you, and good night.