Following another semester of historic student organizing nationwide and a presidential election unlike any other, June Hsu PO ’25, Annabelle Ink PO ’26 and Jada Shavers SC ’26 are ready to lead TSL as its spring 2025 editorial board.
Hailing from Princeville, Hawaiʻi, Editor-in-Chief June Hsu is a public policy analysis major concentrating in politics at Pomona College. This marks her fourth semester at TSL: Hsu began as a news writer after being inspired by a journalism class at Claremont McKenna College with Claremont’s beloved journalism instructor Terril Jones.
Hsu’s tenure at TSL is only the beginning as she intends to enter the journalism industry post-graduation. Hsu said that she initially discovered her love for editing as a news editor in her second semester at TSL. As much as she loves editing, though, Hsu explained that supporting her fellow team members and staff is an even more rewarding part of the experience — something she discovered as managing editor of News and Sports last semester.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d be on ed board,” Hsu said. “Then, I built a lot of connections in the newsroom and started to enjoy TSL more than anything else that I was doing at school and so I wanted to stay around. There hasn’t been a more rewarding experience than being able to take on more leadership at TSL.”
Ink, managing editor of News and Sports, is from Mililani, Hawaiʻi. She is bringing six semesters of TSL experience to the table, including three semesters as a news editor. Ink is an English major at Pomona and is interested in bringing what she learns here to the publishing industry.
Shavers is Ink’s counterpart as the managing editor of Arts & Culture and Opinions. Fresh from a semester abroad in Copenhagen, Jada is entering her fourth semester at TSL. She previously worked as a writer for Arts & Culture as well as an editor for Opinions. Shavers is from Portland, Oregon, and is studying Anthropology and Writing & Rhetoric at Scripps College. Shavers said she is excited to finally oversee TSL’s production from start to finish, a key responsibility that the editorial board handles.
The editorial board agreed on the importance of keeping TSL in line with the larger industry’s direction given how many people consume news exclusively online today. However, they also agreed that nothing compares to compiling the print edition on Thursday production nights.
“Seeing that print issue Friday mornings is one of the most rewarding things,” Hsu said. “But I would also say that the one thing I’m super excited for … is trying out new things with each desk — like more multimedia and sports and polling and just working with everyone on TSL to move in a digital direction that journalism is moving in.”
While in agreement, Ink added how helping foster community is one of the other standouts benefits of being at TSL.
“I’m really excited to watch senior staff members get closer,” Ink said. “The past few semesters, we’ve had such a good team of senior staff and everyone has been so close and had such a good time. So I’m excited to see the dynamic between people as the semester goes on and we get more comfortable with each other.”
Beyond the community in the TSL newsroom, Ink discussed the political context in which TSL will publish this semester. Many students returned to campus just in time for President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Just five days earlier, the White House announced a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, an important development to many student activists on campus.
“It’s easy to detach ourselves from what’s happening in the rest of the world right now because activism on campus is a bit quieter than it was last semester,” Ink said. “But students are still really passionate about a lot of the stuff going on outside of the 5Cs and I think it’s important that we cover that in some way and keep the conversation going.”
Shavers agreed, saying that, as managing editor of Arts & Culture and Opinions, she hopes to see the Claremont community — TSL staff and guest writers alike — use TSL as an outlet through which to react to the current political landscape.
Responding to criticism that TSL has received for its coverage of student activism in recent months, Shavers also emphasized that TSL is an independent, student-run organization.
“A lot of people definitely think that TSL is partnered with Pomona or partnered with admins,” Shavers said. “We are working to provide coverage and to allow for conversations and that’s what makes TSL so important, at least to me, is that it allows for people to talk about these things in a very real way.”
Hsu echoed these sentiments and said that TSL has a special place in her heart.
“Within the newsroom, I’ve made some of my best friends and some of my closest relationships at the 5Cs,” Hsu said. “That’s just been such an amazing experience, whether you want to go into journalism or not.”
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