Dear Reader,

Before I begin, I would like to point out that the Editor-in-Chief of this newspaper usually has the honor of writing the Letter from the Editor. I asked our EIC, Rachel Kleinman, for the chance to write this school year’s first Letter from the Editor because I wanted to address something that is very close to my heart and something that I hope will become, if it hasn’t already, very close to yours as well. That something is The Cardozo Jurist.

I hope that, for you, the Jurist helps transform Cardozo from a place where you merely go to school to a place where you feel you are a part of a living, breathing community… especially for you 1Ls.

It’s easy for law students to fall into the habit of zipping around with a one-track mind. But, by limiting your focus only to casebooks and job searches, you can lose out on all that Cardozo can offer. You can lose out on making Cardozo more than a place where you just go to school. That’s where the Jurist comes in; let us be your lifeline to the Cardozo community.

The Jurist is here for you in a number of ways. In each issue of the Jurist, there will be news stories about what your classmates are doing. You’ll also find interviews with professors in which you can read about the projects they’re working on, and, by learning about their interests outside the classroom, you can discover what kind of people they really are. The newspaper’s editorial board will call your attention to issues it considers pressing at Cardozo. By reading the opinion columns, you can find out what’s on your classmates’ minds. Keep tabs on what our alumni are doing by reading our alumni column. Check out the Culture & Entertainment section to see if there are some new movies or TV shows that your classmates recommend.

There’s also more. At the very least, the Jurist should be something that you read. But it can be so much more. It can serve as your—yes, your—soapbox. It can be your megaphone. It can be your way of making this school your school. Our door is open (most of the time, literally) and you—yes, you—are welcome to write for us, join the editorial board, author a recurring column, or draw a satiric cartoon. Really, you can contribute whatever you want. While we may oversee the Jurist’s production, this paper has always belonged to you. It is, after all, made for you.

Finally, if you see us giddily handing out freshly-printed papers at the start of a new month sometime this year, I apologize in advance for our utter exuberance. We simply love producing this paper, and I hope that you’ll love reading it as much as we love writing it.

Stay connected,

Dave Reap

Associate Managing Editor