Sam Seekings, a junior from Oshkosh, Wis., has been named the next editor-in-chief of Student Life for the 2018-2019 academic year. Currently, Seekings is abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark; however, he served as Student Life’s senior news editor for fall 2017.

Seekings’ appointment was announced last Friday at the annual banquet hosted by Washington University Student Media Inc., whose board of directors, comprised primarily of alumni, oversees Student Life. Bill Freivogel, president of the Washington University Student Media, Inc., announced Seekings’ appointment.

Megan Magray | Student Life

Junior Sam Seekings, who was senior news editor of Student Life for fall 2017, will serve as the paper’s next editor-in-chief.

Seekings, 21, is majoring in History and Psychology with a minor in Text and Tradition. He began working for Student Life through Freshman Press, the paper’s pre-orientation program, starting as a contributing reporter for the news section and a design editor. Seekings became senior news editor in April 2017 and held the role through fall 2017.

Seekings was a qualified candidate for the position due to his strong background in breaking news reporting, content creation and interviewing. In his past positions at Student Life, Seekings has had the opportunity to interview upper level administrators including Chancellor Mark Wrighton and Provost Holden Thorp.

Because Seekings is currently abroad, he will be appointing an associate editor to handle the daily operations of the paper. He will also handle personnel choices for his staff. When Seekings returns in the fall semester, he will resume full editorship, overseeing biweekly productions at Student Life and handling content in the paper.

As editor-in-chief Seekings hopes to promote a more inclusive environment within the Student Life office.

“One thing that I really want to focus on is trying to create a more inclusive culture on staff that welcomes diverse backgrounds and ideas,” Seekings said.

In addition, Seekings hopes to increase paper’s online presence.

“I also want to try to increase Student Life’s online presence by increasing the amount of multimedia and online-focused content we produce,” he said.

Current Editor-in-Chief and junior Ella Chochrek believes that Seekings is a great fit for the position.

“Sam has some really great ideas about online content, and I’m excited to see him implement them going forward,” Chochrek said. “He’s done a lot of great work for paper in the past, and I think he has a really great vision for [Student Life].”

According to Seekings, who begins his role March 29 and will continue as editor-in-chief of Student Life through spring 2019, he is excited to get to work with staff, both old and new, and start implementing his new initiatives.

“I’m just really happy to be able to continue working with the wonderful Student Life staff to put out content that Washington University students care about and enjoy,” Seekings said. “I think we’ve made real progress as a newspaper over the past year, and I really want to keep building on that progress by introducing some new initiatives.”