Last weekend, we spent 30 hours electing the Yale Daily News Managing Board of 2013. We lost sleep, drained Starbucks’ coffee supply and neglected just about everything except this newspaper, and we’re eager to embark on a year at the helm of the Oldest College Daily.

To some extent, this year is much like any other. We walk along the same streets as did our predecessors who founded this newspaper 133 years ago. We share with them a commitment to reporting Yale’s news. But the news of today’s world and today’s Yale have changed since then. As you navigate today’s Yale, we will be along for the ride with you, updating you on what you might miss, analyzing events and trends and painting the landscape of our culture.

As we take the reins of this newspaper, we make two commitments designed to honor and promote the spirit that has guided the News since its birth. First, we dedicate ourselves to continuing to deliver high-quality news, both in print and online. We want to expand the concept of what our newspaper can be, looking always for better ways to tell stories and moderate discussion. We may print daily, but it has become our job to transcend the day. We will be with you at every hour with blogs, videos, discussions and a good old printed daily rag. As Yale ventures into Singapore, as ROTC brings the armed forces back to campus and as plans for two new residential colleges push Yale’s borders deeper into New Haven, we will step beyond our gated courtyards, too.

Second, we promise to re-establish ourselves as an approachable, integral part of the Yale community. We publish this paper every day not because we all aspire to careers in journalism but because we are Yale students and we care about this place. Talk to us.

Our opinion page is your forum for discussion. We want you to pick up the paper each day, look at page two, read and respond. Tell us what you think. In a 2010 study, the Op-Ed Project found that the Yale Daily News led professional and college newspapers in the percentage of articles on its op-ed page written by women. We want to continue to lead the nation in representing a broad array of voices.

We are journalists, but we are also students. It’s our job to span both roles and bring stories to you. But that also means we’re fallible; we’re here to learn with you. That’s why we want to hear from you. Voices balance each other, and, together, we’ll tack a steady course.

We’re proud of the history of this paper. We published the first firsthand account of a Titanic survivor in 1912. Our editorials started pushing for coeducation years before 1969. We led national coverage of the murder of Annie Le GRD ’13. But we know that the Yale Daily News began its life as a glorified gossip page. In our first issues in 1878, reporters insulted secret societies and criticized one professor’s outlandish bumblebee cravats. While our coverage has deepened, we have not lost our perspective. Ten days ago, we dove into the stories behind the Title IX investigation. Today, we announce our clear and decisive Bladderball victory.

In a world in which no boundaries are quite clear, it is important that we believe in the power of the press to deliver the truth to its readers. It is important that this newspaper take seriously its responsibility to realize that power. We are committed to fostering an attitude on campus that allows all Yalies to take ourselves seriously and to trust each other just the right amount. And we’re committed to having fun as we do so. We’re here to serve you — to inform, understand, entertain and challenge.

YALE DAILY NEWS