The Spectator is a physical manifestation of passion, skill and hard work from everyone at the paper. As the school year comes to a close, we say goodbye to six of our current graduating seniors.
Natalie Schorr, digital media producer, came to her first Spectator meeting as a first-year in 2022, and ended up writing a ‘Week In Review,’ for the sports section. She also connected with the head of the design team and quickly became a staff designer, working with Luca Del Carlo and current editor-in-chief Leila Bunker throughout her first year.
Schorr worked alongside previous A&E Editor Emma Ferguson during her first year, whose capstone project was a video broadcast for The Spectator titled Campus Currents. Schorr was instrumental in developing the concept into the consistent broadcast news program it is today. She also worked to develop the Cherry Street Chat podcast last year with two previous editors.
“I really stumbled into it. When people show up for the first time, they’d be like ‘Is this what you want to do for your job?’ No. I’m doing this for fun, for the love of the game,” she said. “I’ve learned a lot from it. It’s kind of crazy, I know so much media production now and I feel like I did gain a lot of really useful skills from being willing to try something out.”
For the past two years, Schorr has served as digital media producer. Without her initiative, competence and work ethic, The Spectator’s digital content would not exist in the form it does today. Schorr has overseen Campus Currents with a high degree of independence, meeting and exceeding expectations while contributing as a writer, photographer and layout designer.
Leila Bunker, editor-in-chief, started at The Spectator as a staff reporter and designer. As a first-year, Bunker came to
The Spectator office the first Monday of orientation, only to be told by an editor that the paper wasn’t meeting yet.
As a second-year, she became a news editor while continuing as a layout designer, then focused solely on news as a third-year, and then finally became editor-in-chief.
The very community that Bunker loves at The Spectator wouldn’t exist in the way it does without her at its center. Bunker, as editor-in-chief, helps encourage everyone at the paper, modeling commitment, excellence and ethical judgement as a journalistic leader. The environment of collaboration and motivation at the paper is sustained under her leadership.
Bunker’s biggest takeaway from her time at The Spectator, outside of video production and writing skills, is something larger.
“Being a student journalist, you’re forced to be exposed to a lot of different ideas, some of which you might not like, but I think that’s a good thing,” she said. “It’s forced me to be a lot more open-minded and to have conversations I might not otherwise have.”
Hadia Ahmed, managing editor, came to her first Spectator meeting last year after starting at Seattle U as a third-year standing student out of Washington’s Running Start program. Her time at The Spectator has helped her discover her own passion for journalism.
“I didn’t know what journalism really meant before. Everyone talks about it, but you don’t know how it actually works until you’re in it. Journalism is not something you do for resume-maxxing necessarily, genuinely it has to come from the heart,” she said.
Through her work at The Spectator, she has proven to herself and others that she can achieve things as a writer. Ahmed has faced skepticism about her decision to study journalism rather than STEM, leaving her especially proud to find a place to dedicate herself to writing.
“I can’t just do this and see where the wind takes me. I need to grab hold of what I can and push myself forward. Not even to show other people, but showing myself that I chose this for a reason,” she said.
Ahmed flew to New York to report from Zohran Mamdani’s inauguration, something she says she never would’ve thought possible without her work at The Spectator. With support from The Spectator, she published her coverage of the event in The Seattle Times. The Spectator has expanded her view of her own capabilities and the world itself.
Matthew Mai, social media manager, joined The Spectator in 2023 with lead designer Annabelle DeGuzman-Carino to get involved with design at the paper.
Mai’s distinctive visual style has developed throughout his time as a designer. Some of his favorite designs include coverage of the youth vote in the 2024 election and the demolition of the Lee Center.
This year, Mai has explored writing for The Spectator. He wrote an opinion piece encouraging students to submit opinion pieces and another on the importance of student journalism. His most recent article was coverage of a local ‘Fur Swap’ event.
Mai is graduating in the fall after one final quarter next year. He plans to pursue a Ph.D in economics. Like Schorr, who wants to combine her communication skills with her passion for the environment, Mai wants to be a part of accessible economic reporting.
“There’s so much that goes into the newspaper. There’s so much labor that’s not visible that happens. And then the article comes out and people read the articles and they don’t even consider what happens to get that in their hands,” he said.
Keagan Brooks-Torres, arts and entertainment editor, has served in their role at The Spectator for the last two years. As a first-year, they wrote on art and music sporadically before being encouraged to apply to the editorial board by Bunker.
As A&E editor, Brooks-Torres initially felt inexperienced, but learned quickly in the role. Their cultural knowledge and familiarity with the Seattle arts scene have been essential in maintaining relevant and engaging arts content at The Spectator.
They fondly remember their Little Shop Hops coverage, as well as their recent coverage of the Lee Center’s final production, “Our Town.” Brooks-Torres is grateful for the ways The Spectator pushed them outside of their comfort zone.
“I know that The Spectator is consistently making me a better reader, a better writer, a better communicator. I can feel that tangible constant growth in myself and see it in the people around me,” they said.
Outside of The Spectator, Brooks-Torres plays bass in a band called “All Friends Here.” They also were a student editor for Seattle University’s Undergraduate Research Journal (SUURJ).
Kaitlyn Delfs, copy chief, visited The Spectator office for the first time towards the end of the 2024-25 school year when she was interviewed by Bunker for the position of copy chief. Like Brookes-Torres, she had previously worked with SUURJ. Her attention to detail, love of editing and knowledge of AP Style has truly saved the paper from printing numerous mistakes and potential lawsuits.
Part of Delfs’ job has been to solicit and keep track of advertisements for the paper. Her work, not traditionally part of a copy editor’s job responsibilities, is essential to make printing and functioning as a paper possible.
Delfs credited the supportive atmosphere of The Spectator as enabling her to explore writing. She developed a niche in reviewing Victorian novels turned into movies with her reviews of Guillermo Del Toro’s “Frankenstein” and Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights.”
The Spectator has been a formative experience for Delfs, one at the center of her college experience. She admired how everyone cared deeply about the paper, which she grew very attached to, and came to appreciate what it represents for student journalism, student activism and student involvement on campus.
“Out of everything I’ve done, The Spectator has been my favorite. It’s definitely going to be the thing I miss the most when I graduate, because there’s truly nothing like it and the people have made it what it is. I wish I did it for longer, but I’m glad I joined when I did, because I think it was meant to be with the team and the position I got,” she said.
Delfs wants to work in communications as some form of editor, with her dream position being a literary editor.
All of the graduating editors have left their mark on The Spectator, and the Seattle U community. They all saw the importance of student journalism and dedicated a significant part of their time in higher education to The Spectator. We’ll miss them greatly, but can’t wait to see where the future takes them!
