Dear alumni and friends,
The Cavalier Daily is in a period of historic change. In just the past five years, the organization has shifted to a digital-first publishing model, moved into a state-of-the-art office in Newcomb Hall, and hired a full-time business manager for the first time in more than a decade.
Amidst this change, the organization is thriving: The Princeton Review named The Cavalier Daily the #2 student newspaper in the country, and its student leaders continue to be recognized among the top college journalists in the country.
The Cav Daily’s successful adaptation to new circumstances would not have been possible without the generous support of alumni and friends. The Cavalier Daily Alumni Association has raised over $130,000 since 2014 to finance internships, training, and real estate for The Cavalier Daily, and our alumni also continue to volunteer their time organizing events that benefit the Cav Daily’s student and alumni communities.
With this track record of successful student-alumni collaboration in mind, The Cavalier Daily Managing Board (MB) recently voted to transform its organizational structure: For the first time in the organization’s history, The Cavalier Daily will incorporate University of Virginia alumni into the organization’s Board of Directors.
Prior to the MB’s action, the Cav Daily’s Board of Directors consisted solely of the five student members of the MB. Now, it includes two student members of the MB, the most recent editor-in-chief, and four other University alumni. The initial members of the new Board of Directors are listed below:
Mike Reingold (Current editor-in-chief)
Grant Parker (Current chief financial officer)
Danielle Bernstein (Col. ‘17; editor-in-chief)
George Rodrigue (Col. ‘78; editor-in-chief)
John Lumpkin (Col. ’71)
Matthew Cameron (Col. ‘13; editor-in-chief)
Sabra Purtill (Col. ’84; copy editor)
This vote formalizes the growing partnership between students and alumni. It also addresses the most common concern that former MB members expressed to the CDAA — namely, that the annual turnover of the all-student Board of Directors presents significant obstacles to preserving institutional memory year over year, and to sustaining momentum on longer-term initiatives.
We look forward to sharing more details shortly about this transformation, as well as other exciting changes that student editors are planning at the Cav Daily. The first order of business for the Cav Daily’s new Board of Directors will be the adoption of bylaws that lay out guidelines for the organization’s operations — including a critical guarantee that students will maintain complete control over the organization’s editorial operations. The Board will then turn its attention to development of a plan to improve the newspaper’s still tenuous financial situation.
In the meantime, we invite our alumni and friends to provide input that will help the new Board of Directors craft the Bylaws and a financial plan. Please reach out to us with comments or questions before the new Board meets for the first time once the Academic Year begins in late August.
Many thanks,
Matthew Cameron & Mike Reingold