Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up the 38th issue of AWOL. In this magazine, you’ll read about professors and students feeling ill-prepared to respond to an active shooter, Metropolitan Police Department officers using force disproportionately against the district’s Black residents, dancers finding solace in their communities and so much more. You’ll also read about the purpose and reception of American University’s Meltzer Center and how artists are combating President Donald Trump’s control of the Kennedy Center, which you can learn more about in AWOL’s podcast and documentary, respectively.

Behind each piece of journalism, a small number of people have dedicated countless hours of their time to reporting, writing, editing, rewriting, fact-checking, photographing, recording, illustrating, designing and promoting it. I’m beyond proud of and incredibly thankful for those people, whom I’m lucky enough to work with every day.

This magazine has my signature on it, but it belongs to the students who made it and the AWOL members from past semesters who gave me the opportunity to lead the best newsroom I have ever known. It’s been a joy to be a part of and learn from a community where members teach and uplift one other.

Regardless of if you love AWOL or hate AWOL, I hope you appreciate the people listed on the left of this page, and every other AWOL member not involved in this semester’s magazine, for getting involved in their community to share people’s stories. I know I do.

Sincerely,

Caleb Ogilvie

Read the online edition of the magazine here.