There is no good way to put this. On Wednesday, April 29, Editor-in-Chief Beth Cimaglia adjourned her final Whit meeting. She will be walking the plank, also known as the commencement stage, and receiving her bachelor’s degree in journalism.

I met Beth at my first Whit meeting in the fall of 2024. Over the course of that year, I developed a friendship with Beth that has only grown, and I’m now glad to not just call her my Editor-in-Chief, but my friend.

My first impression of Beth? Immaculately put together in both look and life. Beth puts her best foot forward, starting with her incredible professionalism and communication skills, and ending with her perfectly coordinated outfits.

When she was editor of the Arts and Entertainment section, Beth and I developed a relationship of staff writer and editor. She helped mentor me to stand up for myself and hone a writing style fit for journalism. As a non-major, that was invaluable, and to this day shapes the way I write for The Whit.

I remember the time that someone I interviewed for a profile not only asked for the draft of my article, but sent me back revisions. Beth responded to this with a fierceness I’ve never seen. She was incredibly protective of her writers and the sanctity of their creative output.

It was only after I became an editor myself, however, that I came to know Beth so much more.

I remember the first meeting that Beth participated in a conversation between Hayden, Shayne, and I, and thinking how damn cool that was. She’s sat next to me all year, but it took a while for her to join the circle of yap.

Since then, Beth and I have talked about everything under the sun. Each and every one of my conversations with Beth has been enlightening and made me feel like I belong at The Whit.

Even as The Whit faced trials and tribulations, Beth navigated them with poise and communicated with us the way that a leader should. It is these serious conversations with her that I actually look back on most fondly, though she probably does not agree — she had a lot of concerns to be fielding at once. Still, I admire her leadership and her bravery in the face of adversity.

As she enters the big, scary, fully fledged adult world, her plan is to start by enjoying where she’s at right now. I couldn’t agree more. Beth has worked incredibly hard to experience the fruits of her labor, working up from a sports cam major to a fully fledged journalist, helping break the Adam Abrams story that challenged Rowan University as a whole and created a new standard for me as a student journalist. It is only fair that she can step back from that and rest.

To Beth, I hope your future is warm, perhaps even hot, wonderfully sunny, and full of health. I think you’ll find that what you want to do is right there, waiting for you to do it. It seems that is the way things have gone for you for the last four years. I have no doubt that they will continue that way for the next four years, and the next, and the next. Good luck!