Junior Julia Skeval (pictured above) will be seizing the editor-in-chief role for the 2019-2020 school year after holding multiple positions within The Lamron throughout her college career. Skeval is looking forward to building The Lamron’s reputation and to getting to know the new e-board (Catherine White/outgoing Editor-in-Chief).
Communication major junior Julia Skeval will take on the role of editor-in-chief of The Lamron for the 2019-2020 school year. Being part of the organization for the past two years has made her enthusiastic about her upcoming role and the paper’s future in general.
Skeval has had an interest in journalism since high school after a scheduling mishap landed her in a course focused on the topic. Despite her initial apprehensions with the class, she kept with it, enjoyed it and ended up becoming one of the editors-in-chief her senior year.
“After my first semester of freshman year of high school, I decided to stick with the class,” Skeval said. “As I wrote more articles and rose up the ranks [of the newspaper] … I discovered that I actually really enjoyed journalism. I developed a passion for storytelling.”
Although she loved journalism, Skeval wanted to try something new when she came to Geneseo, so she looked toward GSTV, the college’s student-run television station at the time. After GSTV dissolved, however, Skeval decided to become a copy assistant for The Lamron’s news section.
She held the assistant role for a short time before becoming copy editor that same semester and held it for the next two years. Her experience as a copy editor helped her see herself in the same position she held on her high school newspaper.
“I felt that I had developed my leadership skills enough through both the copy editor [position] and through holding other positions of other clubs on campus … I was ready to lead the team,” Skeval said. “I liked having a really vocal role in how the paper ran [in high school] and so I thought that would be cool to do again at the college level.”
Skeval’s plans for The Lamron include expanding on the “Ask Emmeline” column and emphasizing The Lamron’s importance on campus.
“I want to work with the staff to try and make The Lamron almost a necessity on campus. I want students to look forward to Thursdays because it means another edition of The Lamron is coming out. I think we’ve started to build at least a foundation to have a reputation as being a necessity,” Skeval said. “I feel like the campus right now is lacking an overarching news source and I think The Lamron has the potential to be that.”
Other than when the e-board brought in a cupcake cake on a production night for her birthday, Skeval’s favorite Lamron memories involve goofing off with the paper’s staff.
“It almost feels like we developed a little family,” Skeval said. “I look forward to coming in on Wednesday nights because I know everyone’s going to be at their desks, but I know that anytime anyone says anything stupid, they will immediately get roasted and we’ll laugh about it for a little while before we go back to our work.”
Next year will be full of leadership positions for Skeval as she will also be the president of her sorority, Sisters Making a Change, and a technical director for SA Technical Services. She is also a member of the Edgar Fellows Honors Program and plans to examine the history of college newspapers for her capstone project.
In her “very limited free time,” Skeval enjoys binge-watching Netflix and Hulu shows, recreating recipes from Tasty videos and listening to music by artists and bands like Jon Bellion, ARIZONA and Colony House.
Skeval is looking forward to working with the new, experienced e-board who will help The Lamron thrive.
“I’m just excited. I’m excited for the incoming e-board. I think from who I’ve met and who I’ve talked to so far, I think we’ll get along just like this year’s e-board,” Skeval said. “I think everyone’s bringing a lot of fun and new ideas to the table and I’m just excited to see what another year has in store for us. It’s never boring.”