It may be a new year but The Badger Herald Editorial Board’s  mission remains the same — we strive to represent the student voice as we weigh in on campus, local and state affairs.

If there is a topic that we should cover, or if you’d like to respond to anything we write, drop us an email at [email protected].

Here is this semester’s Editorial Board:

Editorial Board Chair Madeline Sweitzer

Hi.

I’m a senior majoring in political science, history and journalism. I’m also a bit of an out-of-touch Madison insider … I mean a veteran, as this will be my sixth semester on Editorial Board and eighth semester at The Badger Herald. (But don’t worry, the Herald swamp will be #drained as I’m – hopefully – graduating in May.)

My greatest Herald hits include two semesters as an opinion section editor and a three-semester stint as an at-large member of this board.

In addition to part-time opinion shenanigans this semester I was sucked back into full-time Herald life as copy chief. So, for the ~5 minutes a week I’m not at the Herald, in class or working other jobs, you can find me going through a delayed angsty music phase and, inevitably, turning up at Plaza on Long Island Thursdays.

As for postgrad life, I’m just not gonna go there … ever.

Send or tweet me your favorite meme at [email protected] or @mcsweitzer

Editor-in-Chief Hayley Sperling

O shit, waddup. It’s me, the EIC. But you can just call me Hayley.

It’s my sixth semester at the Herald and my second on Editorial Board, and just as I’ve started to figure this whole thing out, I’ll be forced to leave it all behind after graduating this May (lol what?).

I come from the land of 10,000 lakes but I’ve been honored to call Madison my home for the past four years. You may have guessed that I study journalism here at the University of Wisconsin, and during the few hours of the day that I’m not at the Herald office, you can find me working at the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism or enjoying a Long Island at Plaza.

I’d love to talk with you about mental health issues, social justice, existentialism and any kind of dog. Send me your thoughts at [email protected] or slide into my DMs on Twitter, @hksperl.

Managing Editor Emily Neinfeldt

Hi, I’m Emily, and this is my fifth semester at the Herald and my first on the Editorial Board. I spent my first two semesters here writing for news, my second two semesters writing for features, before making my way here — as managing editor.

I’m a journalism and political science major and graduating in May, or so they say. My passions include looking at pictures of animals on Instagram, informing the student body and procrastinating.

I’m interested in social justice issues, politics, racial injustice and women’s rights. If you’d like to chat, email me at [email protected] or find me on Twitter @emneinfeldt.

Opinion Editor Connor Touhey

Hello. How ‘bout that ride in, huh? Guess that’s why they call it sin city.

…I’m Connor and this will be my first semester on the Editorial Board, but my fourth semester of writing for the Badger Herald.

I hail from the mighty metropolis of Hales Corners, Wisconsin, a small suburb of Milwaukee. I’m currently on track to complete my senior year this spring, with a victory lap still to come.

As a student of journalism, strategic communications, political science and history, my focus is primarily on state and national politics, though I am always happy to complain about other areas as well.

When I’m not writing and/or editing the opinion section you’ll probably find me quoting obscure movie lines with my weird roommates or planning trips around the world I’ll never actually get to take.

If you want to send me an angry email or maybe just say hi, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on twitter @Connor_Touhey

Opinion Editor Yusra Murad

I’ve spent the majority of this school year incessantly messaging whichever opinion writers have been foolish enough to share their contact information with me and hiding in the Herald bathroom, trying to wash coffee stains off my jeans. I am a glamorous woman. When it comes to this section, I do not play hard-to-get. I want you. I want all of your opinions. So bad.

I was drawn to the Herald three semesters ago, and this is my second on the Editorial Board. There is a range of opinion at this school that truly might blow your mind. Even if I wanted to live in the echo chamber I lived in before, it would be impossible — the variety of opinions I’ve been exposed to in my short time here has changed the way I think as I’m sitting in class, the way I look at UW and my general worldview.

It’s important to disagree, and disagree often, so I hope you find things to fight me on as we attempt to put back together the broken shards of 2016. Until America can get its shit together — special shoutout @men @whiteppl — I’ll have a lot to write about. So there’s a silver lining.

What you want, when you want it: [email protected]

Associate Opinion Editor Aly Niehans

Hi, I’m Aly Niehans, and this my second semester writing for The Badger Herald, my first writing for the Editorial Board. I spent the previous semester writing for the opinion section about the current mess that is American politics.

I was born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, home of Oshkosh B’Gosh children’s clothes and not much else. I spent a year abroad in Denmark, and that year taught me the wonders of public transportation, free healthcare and education and healthy food: all things the U.S. is severely lacking in.

I am currently a freshman hoping to double major in international studies and journalism, but, as adults are prone to pointing out, I’m young and indecisive and will probably continue to change my major until UW forces me to stop.

If anyone ever wants to chat, recommend music and/or quality TV shows or fund my borderline addiction to online shopping, feel free to shoot me an email at [email protected].