As we approach the end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year, it’s time to reflect on the revitalization of the Free Press as McDaniel’s student-run newspaper. It has been a wild year, but thanks to the collective efforts of the students in our campus community, the paper could return to online publication.
Candidly, I never quite expected to serve as Editor-in-Chief for Free Press during my time at McDaniel, especially as a senior. I wrote an article here or there, but primarily devoted my time to freelance work. Despite this, I thoroughly believe in the importance of a school paper run by students to provide information to a higher education campus, and so I was happy to do my part in bringing back the paper.
Work within the English Department has borne fruit, with a variety of articles published on the website during the spring semester. But now, the work for this year is done, and Free Press must turn to matters of the future.
To prepare for a new school year, two new students have been nominated to serve as Co-Editors in Chief of the McDaniel Free Press. These students are Ashley Shawyer and Re-Re Lowengrub, student athletes wrapping up their sophomore and junior years, respectively.
Below you can find brief introductions from each respective editor after accepting their new positions for the upcoming year:
Ashley Shawyer: I’m Ashley Shawyer, technically a rising junior but will be graduating early in 2026. I’m a history major who plays on the softball team at McDaniel. After taking Introduction to Journalism with Dr. Paul Muhlhauser, I found myself interested in journalism and hope to help bring back journalism to our McDaniel community.
Re-Re Lowengrub: Hi! My name is Re-Re Lowengrub. I am a Writing and Publishing major from Washington, D.C. I’m part of the track and cross-country team here and serve as Vice President of McDaniel’s Jewish Student Union. I also have a 4-year-old Yorkshire terrier that lives on campus with me. I am looking forward to being the new co-editor for McDaniel Free Press!
It has been a pleasure to serve Free Press this year, and I want to extend my gratitude to all of the students and faculty who have supported the return of the paper to online publication this year. This would not have been possible without collective effort.
Please continue to show up for us! I wish the newest editors the best of luck in their journey in the years to come! Long live the McDaniel Free Press!
