Will Reichel holds a special place in my heart

The Communication ’01 grad doesn’t know who I am, and if it weren’t for his weekly appointment with the right side of this page in Fall Quarter 2000, I wouldn’t know him, either. But along with Giordano’s pizza in McCulloch Hall and NU journalism Prof. Dick Schwarzlose “burning Fisk Hall to the ground,” Will Reichel became a part of my freshman year.

I read Reichel’s weekly contributions, and those of his peers, every day over lunch at Norris University Center or while half-listening to a lecture in Harris Hall. Sometimes I agreed with the columnists, sometimes I became enraged. But I was always intruiged that one page in The Daily was certain to contain a variety of voices – and that’s what kept me coming back.

There was one column in particular, however, that struck a chord in me. The infamous presidential election was well under-way, and my incessant Gore-campaigning must have been grating on my friends’ nerves. But Reichel’s Oct. 25, 2000, column, “On the dangers of a win for W,” perfectly summed up my feelings. I cut the column out of The Daily and underlined my favorite lines. On election night, in a final act of defiance, I taped the column up on the door of the dorm room.

The column remained there until I packed up my bags for home in June. I got frequent joking comments from friends – “Let it go, Cam” – but it wasn’t the politics of the column that led me to adorn my door with it. It was the way Reichel wrote exactly how I felt and the effect the column had on me. In the same way some people wear favorite shirts until they fall apart, I kept that column up as long as I could, if only to remind myself of what words can do. Last week, while I packed boxes to move into my apartment for my senior year, I found the column, folded among freshman-year pictures and old class assignments. I read it, folded it up and placed it in the box, where I’ll find it again in five years and remember once more why the Forum page has always been my favorite.

Since Reichel graced this page almost three years ago, there have been 30 more people to agree with – and to be enraged by. And now it’s time to find five more.

The Daily is now accepting applications for the five columnist spots for Fall Quarter. For 10 weeks, the columnists will have the opportunity to speak their minds to this campus, the city of Evanston – and the anonymous freshman eating her lunch at Norris.

Applications, which are due by Friday of Finals Week, June 20, should include five possible column ideas. In addition, send us two actual columns of around 550 words. Finally, we’ll need a 130-word biography so that, if you’re chosen, we can introduce you to your readers.

A tip from a slightly-seasoned Forum editor: Be aware. Write about the things you read, things that are happening every day. Find the parts that intrigue you andn use them to inspire people. Be a reporter. Be an activist. Be a storyteller.

There will be 1,947 freshmen arriving in September. The Fall Quarter columnists will write 10 columns each. The odds are good that, just like Will Reichel, something one of you says could move one member of the Class of 2007 to speak out, to act – to decorate.