Today, the Whit is suffering a tragic loss. It is with a heavy, heavy heart that I announce the graduation of Copy Desk Chief Hayden Fugee.
Over the course of this year, I have had the joy of becoming Hayden’s friend, and I hope he feels the same about me. Watching him blossom into a pillar of the Whit room, grow into the role of Copy Desk Chief, and embrace his oddly endearing brand of humor, has been a privilege.
I knew Hayden and I would be fast friends after I turned around and started talking to our former Copy Desk Chief, Shane. Sitting just one chair down from Shane was Hayden, and he of course joined in on the conversation.
It has always been the case that the conversations in the Whit room are strange and never ending, and mine and Hayden’s have been no exception. We’ve discussed the mundane, like film recommendations and Letterboxd reviews, to the political, such as our thoughts on affairs past and present, to the absurd.
Most recently, Hayden masterminded a drawn out campaign to advertise and eventually put on a performance featuring fellow editor Christopher Otto. This event, entitled, “Meet Chris,” was as brilliant as it was weird. Nonetheless, I delighted in helping Hayden create a document of strange and funny “facts” about Chris, which were read aloud in a megaphone over the course of the event, which took place at the owl statue on April 17.
While not a feat of impressive journalism and rather a display of Hayden’s absurd humor, Hayden is not lacking in academic and journalistic rigor.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered that he had been working for a month alongside fellow seniors Beth Cimaglia and Christopher Otto to write the article which exposed Adam Abrams’ past and pushed Rowan to act and answer for his employment here.
That article represents the pinnacle of Hayden’s achievement during his time at the Whit, but certainly not the peak anywhere else. I believe that given the right circumstances, we are going to be saying the name Fugee next to that of the greats. Which greats, I’m not sure. It could be a journalistic great, photographic great, or even a screenwriting or comedic great, but it is going to be one of them or even all of them.
In the meantime, I invite you all to watch with bated breath for what Hayden does next. And to Hayden, I am going to miss you. I think everyone at the Whit is going to miss you, but I’ve selfishly decided that it’s going to be me the most. I am going to miss hanging out with you and your lovely partner at your apartment, I’m going to miss texting you my inside thoughts during our meetings, whatever those may be, and I’m going to miss turning around and seeing you behind me every Wednesday, working on making the Whit great.
Good luck, though I don’t think you’re going to need it.
