Dear reader,
It is with bittersweet emotions that I share I am resigning my position as president and editor-in-chief of The Signal, effective Feb. 1, 2020.
I have recently accepted a job offer more in tune with my desired career trajectory, and for this reason I have made the difficult decision to step down and allow new leadership to guide The Signal.
Ada Wood, current news editor, will assume the role of interim editor-in-chief for a period of about six weeks as the Committee on Student Communications works to appoint both a permanent replacement and a new editor-in-chief for the 2020-21 academic year.
I’m incredibly confident in Ada’s ability to continue leading the newspaper, as she has been both an exemplary editor and journalist since her joining in April 2018.
Ada was formerly a news reporter until January 2019 when she was promoted to associate news editor.
Quickly after joining the leadership, Ada played a critical role in the launch of The Signal’s Investigative Unit, which lead to notable longform reporting that covered the ouster and later federal indictment of Georgia State mega-donor Parker H. Petit, the oft-protested Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange and a contentious free trip to Israel taken by several top SGA officials last year.
With my remaining onboard as a senior Opinions contributor, I will be in a unique position to assist Ada and The Signal to the best of my abilities and as requested, ensuring a smooth transition and continued success for our award-winning newspaper.
The journey to my position was often challenging and unpredictable, but nevertheless unforgettable. I applied to The Signal in October of 2017 after a brief stint at WRAS-88.5, where I spent countless hours running graveyard shifts at 2 a.m. every Friday.
Album 88 was my first foray into student media at Georgia State, a community I longed for while searching to find my true “identity” in college. My first position with the newspaper was as a web developer. It later afforded me the opportunity to redesign The Signal’s entire website, earning us First Place Best College Website at the Southeast Journalism Conference that year.
In my time as editor-in-chief, The Signal has defied the odds, challenged university administration and broken major stories — all in the pursuit of honest, accountable leadership and transparent reporting.
This paper has grown to new heights — our leadership team has more than doubled, and our total staff size has nearly quadrupled. We have produced head-turning newspapers that have driven campus and city discussion, including our Sex Issue, SGA Issue, Technology Issue, letter to Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and The Urbanite magazine.
As I wrote in May of last year, I would not be where I am today were it not for The Signal and its many supporters. Reflecting back on these two years, I can only offer my sincere gratitude to you. Thank you, reader, for supporting our journalism. Thank you to our alumni for guiding and advising us every step of the way. Thank you to our adviser, Bryce McNeil, for being our rock. And thank you to my friends and family, who have been there for every crest and every valley. I will never forget.
This paper has accomplished so much, yet its golden years still lie long ahead. I am eager and ready to see where The Signal and its remarkable students go next.
Until next time,
Daniel Varitek
Editor-in-Chief, ‘18-‘20
