My name is Mitchell Roland, and I am the current Editor-in-Chief of The Observer. This is my first quarter in this role, and it will be my third quarter at CWU. While I’m new to CWU, I’m not new to journalism. I’ve previously worked at two weekly college newspapers, and I’ve worked in just about every role on a newspaper staff.

If you’ve read my previous work, I hope that you’ve found my reporting to be fair and accurate. And if you haven’t, I hope to earn your trust soon.

This quarter, much like everything else, will be different due to the continued effects of COVID-19. Several of our staff members are working remotely. I am writing this from my parents’ dining room since I haven’t yet moved to Ellensburg, and there are currently a minimal number of students in Ellensburg as classes have remained largely online.

But while things continue to change, The Observer’s mission to deliver the news that impacts both students and the community will remain the same. Our staff is hard-working and dedicated to creating the best paper we can.

And there certainly will be a lot of news to cover: ongoing demonstrations against police brutality, a pandemic that has killed over 190,000 Americans and left millions out of work, looming budget cuts at CWU due to an economic slowdown from COVID-19, an upcoming presidential election and an ongoing search for the next president of CWU.

A lot is happening on campus and in Ellensburg, and we intend to cover it as best as we can. Our coverage can be found in print every Tuesday on campus, online at cwuobserver.com or on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts @cwuobserver.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, concerns or story ideas. In a crowded media landscape, I hope you will find The Observer to be a reliable source of information.