STUDENT self-governance and diversity are our buzz words. Various groups and peoples at the University, to one degree or another, believe that they contribute to their fulfillment. Yet, nowhere but for The Cavalier Daily have these two ideals been more fully realized.
The Cavalier Daily is a picture of intellectual diversity and, by its very nature, tempers the polarizing effects of ideology. Allow me to dwell on this for a few sentences because this is the lasting legacy of The Cavalier Daily.
I started out a naïve and facile writer and deeply ideological to boot. No one knows this better than Elizabeth Alabama Mills; but she was kind to me and encouraged me. From the start she saw the big picture and knew that one day I might flower into a well-trained and thoughtful journalist. She showed me then, as she shows her staff today, what it is to live above politics, to love people and to treasure other's talents. And I know that I'm not the only one on staff who has learned to live in a world of ideas where friendship and a common purpose matter before politics and our own idiosyncrasies.
Of course, so little of my experience at The Cavalier Daily would have been possible without a large support network outside of it. And so a few "thank yous" are in order. To Steven Rhoads, the talented politics professor, who always was willing to help with a column idea or offer a quote in a time crunch. To my roommate Beth Kebbekus who tirelessly discussed column ideas with me and frequently made me see things from a different point of view. To Meredith Ramsey and Whitney Blake who encouraged me to begin writing for The Cavalier Daily in the first place and who, when all is said and done, remain among my best friends from the University. To my wonderful aunts, Mary Byker and Deborah Benson, who have loved me and protected my interests since day one. To my older siblings, Troy, Desiree, Wade and Ian, who, despite our political disagreements, never shy away from telling me how proud they are of their baby sister. To my mother and step-father, Thea and Paul Bohannon, who have been a great sounding board and who, I believe, will always be my biggest fans.
Though there are many more people to thank and experiences to dwell on, I must finally give special mention to my twin sister, Carmen, who is, without second thought, my role model and best friend. Not without you would I have had the self-confidence to begin my journey as a collegiate journalist or the wherewithal to weather the intermittent bouts of heartache that stem from being the source of controversy. Our lifetime of friendship will always motivate my writing and not just because you are a part of so many of my experiences, from the monotonous to the thrilling. Rather, without at first even noticing it, our friendship has become the lens through which I see the world; because I admire you so, this world has become an admirable place to me. Above all, I consider that your greatest gift and so I must wrap up my life as a college student and begin my life as an adult by thanking you, Carmen Joan Byker. I cannot imagine a time when my gratitude will cease; I love you always.
There is of course great pleasure in knowing that you have made the ones who love you proud. But there is perhaps a greater reward in knowing that you have made the ones who do not love you (and especially the ones who disdain you) think. In the end, I hope that was, at least part of the time, my role at The Cavalier Daily.
Believing that it was, closing this column is bittersweet. I was anxious to write my final column; with it comes the satisfaction of a job well done. And yet, with a mind full of things left to say, this paragraph contains the last words I will ever write as a Cavalier Daily opinion columnist. When I think back on the fond things that filled my life as an undergraduate, The Cavalier Daily will be chief among them. I will miss my editors and friends at the paper dearly, and I am grateful to the entire staff for their work. They have taught me a lifetime's worth of AP style grammar, K4, production and the like. And most importantly, they have imparted on me the virtues of hard work, factual accuracy, a healthy degree of ideological independence and journalistic integrity. Indeed, my esteem for The Cavalier Daily will endure as long as students with a tremendous amount to learn, students not at all unlike myself when I began to write, shape and in turn are shaped by these pages. And that will happen, by design, as long as our doors are open.
Christa Byker was a Cavalier Daily senior associate editor. She can be reached at cbyker@cavalierdaily.com.
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