It is my distinct privilege to announce that Genny Sheara is assuming the role of Editor-in-Chief at The Spectator for the 2023-2024 academic year. Sheara is a gifted journalist and musician and has made an impact on campus through both mediums. Considering that, it only makes sense that art is what initially got Sheara interested in journalism. 

“I got really into Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch.’ It was all about journalists and a newspaper,” Sheara said. “I had a friend who was at [The Spectator], and so I was like, ‘hey, can I tag along to one of the meetings?’ And it was great.” 

Sheara’s first article at The Spectator was about COVID-19 restrictions, and since then, she has covered topics varying widely from national politics to student government. She has been at The Spectator for nearly her entire academic career at Seattle U, starting in the Winter Quarter of her first year. While she has become an important journalistic voice on campus, her favorite part of working at the paper isn’t her influence, but rather the community itself. 

“Walking into the office for the first time ever I thought ‘oh my god, it’s a group of people on campus that I can feel seen with, and I feel like the work I was doing really had a purpose,’” Sheara said. “It was a room full of people who cared about the same stuff I care about, and that was really motivating. So, the culture of The Spectator is definitely my number one thing and why I love it so much.” 

Sheara has been a critical component of The Spectator returning to print editions this year, as well as the publication becoming a wider part of the campus dialogue following the pandemic. As a News Editor, she focused on pursuing coverage which engages the student community and connects readers with the leadership decisions being made by university administration. During her tenure as Editor-in-Chief, she hopes to focus on revamping the paper’s online presence and finding new ways to connect with students. 

“We are a community-first newspaper. That’s always been a powerful component of our identity and something that is really unique to us—there is no other Seattle University newspaper. I definitely think that being the platform for students, for faculty, the staff and the whole Seattle U community has been really important to me,” Sheara said. 

She is also focused on fostering dialogue between all of the distinct components of Seattle U’s identity as a Catholic, Jesuit, progressive university in the Pacific Northwest and exploring how those identities interact with each other.

“The Spectator is ultimately not only a reflection of that, but a platform for that dialogue,” Sheara said. 

In addition to bringing a fresh leadership perspective to the Editor-in-Chief role, she is the first person to take the helm at The Spectator who has thousands of fans due to her work as a musician. With 43.3 thousand followers on TikTok, Sheara is used to being a public figure both on and off campus. A video she posted in July 2021 went viral on the platform, garnering 1.1 million likes and about six thousand comments. Sheara posted the clip on a whim and didn’t think much of it.  

“The next day it was one hundred thousand views—a million views—two million views—three million views. After that, it gave me the push to keep doing online content. I just kept making stupid little TikTok videos and YouTube stuff like that. It was a way to get to play music,” Sheara said. 

Anyone who attended Quadstock this year will also know that Sheara is the drummer in the band All Friends Here, which was a crowd favorite at the recent concert. 

“The band’s been great. We started pretty recently, like in January of this year, and we’re all Seattle U students,” Sheara said. “That’s been really sick. It’s really contributed to my sense of community on campus.” 

The fact that Sheara manages to balance the demands of being a musician and editor at the same time is a testament not only to her talent but also her work ethic. Throughout her time at The Spectator, she has shown a consistent ability to bring people together and achieve high-quality news coverage despite the pressures of academia.  

The 2023-2024 academic year will be an exciting time at The Spectator. If you are a Seattle U student, Sheara has a message for you as she moves into the role of Editor-in-Chief. 

“I think for all of our staff, it’s going to be an exciting year, so anyone who sees this article or reads through it, I would love for them to be part of the newspaper. The Spectator is awesome!”