Dear reader,

Thank you for picking up a copy of AWOL’s 34th magazine issue. We appreciate everyone who takes the time to read, watch and listen to the work that our staff works so hard to produce.

AWOL investigates the world through a critical, subversive and irrepressible lens with the purpose of reporting so that you, the reader, might be better equipped to view the world and find your home in it. Finding home is the theme of this issue.

Our cover story, written by Will Systma and Marisa Álvarez, follows students trying to find community in religion and a home at AU when issues of Islamophobia and antisemitism are taking center stage on many university campuses – including our own. Alexia Partouche and Helena Milburn investigated a rent-fixing lawsuit against real estate companies, including buildings students at AU call home. Kate Kessler and Mia Kimm looked into the arts departments at AU where students, staff and administrators are working to create art with the resources they have available. In those departments, many students have found a home for their passions.

Our multimedia team produced a documentary on Greek Life at the university that traces student concerns and community experiences. The Hum team produced a podcast on the pressures of internship culture. Finally, the Ripped From the Wall team produced a podcast about the university’s switch to the Workday app and how some paychecks didn’t initially reach students.

In the past few semesters, AWOL has become a larger organization that produces writing, video and podcast content supported by design and public relations departments. For many of the people that drove our growth after the pandemic, this is their last semester in AWOL. A special thanks goes out to everyone who has made AWOL feel like a home. I know the people stepping into leadership will make this space their own.

I am incredibly grateful to the circumstances and people that brought me here. I want to thank Grace Hagerman, last semester’s Editor-In-Chief, for her work to make this year successful with me.

Finally, I want to thank the AWOL staff for their hard work this semester. I’d also like to thank you, the reader, for picking up this magazine and appreciating our work. We hope our reporting inspires your interest and passion.

Sincerely,

Neal Franklin

Read the online version of the magazine here.