Dear readers,
In light of the coronavirus outbreak, a lot has changed for the Texas A&M community over the past few days.
On Thursday afternoon, A&M officials announced classes would be canceled from March 16 to 20, with all classes resuming online for the remaining portion of the semester.
With classes not in session this week, our staff chose not to print on Thursday because we follow a university schedule. However, as we navigate our print schedule for the rest of the spring semester, a lot is still up in the air. Here is what I can tell you for sure:
First and foremost, The Battalion exists to serve the A&M community. That goal is written in the masthead at the top of each of our papers and at the top of our website as a constant reminder. To continue that mission, we will not cease to cover A&M from the students’ perspective, especially concerning the coronavirus and how it is affecting A&M students. However, there may be changes in how that news is delivered.
Our next print edition will be on stands Monday, March 23. In addition to next week’s paper, you can expect two Maroon Life magazines before the end of the semester and a graduation edition in May. Beyond that, I’m saddened to say that I don’t have an exact answer for when we will print. We are online 24/7 and will continue to publish digitally.
For the rest of the spring, we’re taking things day-by-day to determine what is best for our staff and the A&M community. Whether we continue to print a weekly paper or not, we still believe in honest, transparent journalism, and we will not sacrifice that during this time. Expect more, not less, coverage of issues that matter most to A&M.
Not in College Station? Don’t worry. You can find digitized versions of our papers here. The best way to get up-to-date news? Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter. We’re always online, even if that means we won’t have a physical paper.
We are well aware that this is a challenging time to be a student. There are still a lot of unknowns, and we are working to make sure you receive answers as soon as we have information. If there are specific questions you have about the coronavirus, feel free to submit them here or shoot me an email at [email protected].
To my fellow Aggies in College Station and those around the globe, listen to health officials. Wash your hands. And don’t go out in public unless it’s absolutely necessary. Northgate can wait for another day.
Thanks and Gig ‘em,
Samantha Mahler ‘19
Editor-in-chief