The defining quality of any campus and community paper is its connection to the student body as well as its community members. Arthur requires strong and balanced leadership and as women who have established campus and community initiatives, we believe we embody that leadership.
We are passionate journalists, activists and feminists who are committed to representing diversity. As first generation Canadians and women of colour, we believe in the power Arthur provides as a medium to represent the student body. Therefore, we guarantee a spectrum of front covers and features dedicated to creating an inclusive paper that explores trans- rights, women’s rights, indigenous rights, mental health awareness, anti-racism, as well as other anti-oppression issues.
As a Trent alumni, we have seen the disconnect between downtown and campus life and we believe it is important to engage the community as well as the student body. To bridge that gap, we ensure a focus on Traill College and want to make sure Arthur is still relevant to those who no longer attend Trent but remain in Peterborough.
We plan on expanding our distribution to Trent Oshawa and reaching out to Oshawa students. For a younger and smaller campus, Trent Oshawa has broken ground with events such as TedX Talks and cultural celebrations for Black History Month, which we would like to support and showcase in Arthur. Both campuses could learn from each other, and we would see Arthur provide this connection.
In terms of staff dynamics, we think the past editors have done an exemplary job at assigning roles to certain writers. Instead of changing the staffing model, we plan on re-instating the internship program originally established by Co-Editors Sara Ostrowska and Jasmine Cabanaw. The ability to earn a half-credit towards one’s degree will help aspiring photographers and journalists pursue their career paths.
It doesn’t end there! In addition to hard-hitting campus and local news, we want to introduce other creative forms of communication.
We want to include political cartoons and bring back Street Style to showcase the beauty of our community. As well, our goal to humanize and highlight the thriving individuals in the city will be celebrated in a weekly column Humans of Peterborough.
Trent Radio is a platform for us, like Arthur, where we honed many of our leadership skills, and we will continue the relationship between Arthur and Trent Radio which last year’s co-editors Pat Reddick and Matthew Rappolt have established.
Yumna’s program The Peterborough Groove Council created an artistic hub by interviewing many musicians and poets from Peterborough, Oshawa, and Toronto. Zara’s program The Naughty Hour allowed for a safe space where people could feel comfortable discussing sex positive issues on the air. As operators, we brought out the best in people and fostered creativity; traits we believe are an asset to this paper.
We believe in ethical journalism, and an open and transparent policy. Regardless of our biases, we will not censor any voices as long as there is no inherent hate speech within the message; we welcome all facets of thought. Bottom line: we love this paper and we want you to love it too.
Zara Syed:
Zara is a passionate activist and has been involved with Arthur since 2013. She is the founder of Trent Feminist Society and was last year’s Anti-Racism Commissioner for the TCSA. She was also the Anti-Racist Resource Specialist for the Peterborough Community and Race Relations Committee (CRRC).
Zara has been actively involved with Trent Administration and the TCSA, and has covered controversial campus news such as the SMA and Trent budget processes.
She has also been heavily involved with local news and was proud to interview the infamous Dean Del Mastro.
Zara loves to make people laugh-when she isn’t writing, you can find her doing stand up comedy at charity fundraisers.
Yumna Leghari:
Yumna has been writing journalistically for six years, varying from local food and fashion, to an extensive experience in music journalism and politics for Slow City Magazine, Oshawhat!, Now or Never, and online publication, PureGrainAudio. She started in Trent Oshawa and has been writing for Arthur since she came to the Peterborough campus in 2013.
Yumna is the founder of Living Culture, a team which gives artists, musicians, and poets a chance to showcase their talents, and has worked to bring this project to life in Peterborough, Oshawa, and Toronto.
Furthermore, she has been involved with the Peterborough Poetry Collective as an organizer and performer. Aside from her passion for community and activism through art, she has spoken on panels on the topics of feminism, race, and religion for organizations such as the Center of Gender and Social Justice.