University President Fr. Mark Poorman has appointed Hannah Sievert editor-in-chief of The Beacon for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Sievert, a junior, currently serves as living editor for The Beacon and has worked for the publication since her freshman year. She applied in her first few weeks at UP and found it a great way to integrate herself into the UP community and learn more about it. Though the Beacon newsroom is a demanding environment, Sievert considers it an excellent fit.
“It’s just such a fun job where you get to meet people, and I love writing, so it’s doing what I love,” Sievert said. “I can’t imagine having another job.”
She also said she has especially enjoyed the community aspect of working at The Beacon and is indebted to mentors throughout the years who have invested time and effort into teaching her and other people. She plans to prioritize maintaining the strong sense of camaraderie next year as well as continue to improve The Beacon’s online presence. Keeping the high standards of excellence to which many of its readers hold it is a goal for next year, Sievert said, which she plans to accomplish by recruiting competitive applicants and focusing on training staff.
Sievert enjoys the opportunity to write stories that might otherwise get overlooked and thinks it’s crucial for The Beacon to accomplish that at a UP level.
“Storytelling is connecting people, showing parts of the human experience, (through) stories that just make you cry because there’s just something about them,” Sievert said.
Last summer, she interned at Artslandia Publishing, where she was involved in the magazine production process and said she learned a lot about Portland through writing about it. This summer, she will further develop her journalism skills as an intern with the Charles Snowden internship program at The Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon.
Nancy Copic, Beacon advisor and assistant director of student media at UP, said that the internship will be an invaluable professional journalism experience for Sievert where her skills will serve her well and where she can further grow them.
“(Sievert) has intentionally challenged herself through stories that were just beyond her skill level. And I think that’s an inspiration to other students who will learn from her...I think it’s powerful in motivating the other students,” Copic said. “Hannah is a very positive person. I’m excited to see how she builds community in the newsroom and beyond.”
Sievert’s first act as editor-in-chief was appointing reporter Claire Desmarais as news and managing editor for next year.
The Presidential Advisory Committee on Student Media recommended Sievert to Poorman, who affirmed the decision.
“We recommended Hannah because of the outstanding job she has done this year as living editor,” Leykam said in an email to The Beacon. “We’re also excited to see her ideas in the areas of staff meeting improvement, promoting awareness of The Beacon to incoming freshmen, and inspiring/incentivizing staff come to fruition in 2018-19.”
Sievert will succeed Rachel Rippetoe, who will graduate in May.
“She (Sievert) has a natural leadership ability that's both authoritative and approachable,” Rippetoe said. “She's also a great writer, and she comes up with some really unique and creative stories to tell. I think she will be a great motivator for staff next year, and that's really a big part of the job, just inspiring students who have a million other things to do to be a contributing part of The Beacon community.”
