2011-2012 was an exciting year at The Vanderbilt Torch, as related in this April column by Valerie Hsu:

What an adventure.

Looking back over the past eight months at the Torch, it’s hard to believe how much has happened and filled these pages.

When this school year began back in August, Rick Perry had just declared his candidacy, and Michele Bachmann won the Ames Iowa Straw Poll. Boy, have things changed. It’s been a fun and infuriating race, and the GOP has finally and ambivalently settled for Mitt.

This was a year of activism….

The Torch has tried its best to keep up with these movements—both here in Nashville and around the world—because they all affect us somehow in some way. It’s when we find those connections that the world around us begins to take on meaning….

We shy away from the cliché of thinking that we can change the world. But it’s true—we can! In our own worlds, our own circles of influence, we can be that change we want to see. And as our worlds intersect with other worlds, our influence expands, eventually reaching the global community.

I hope that this school year, the Torch has encouraged or assisted you toward that goal of global awareness and involvement. I hope that we provided original viewpoints on relevant issues. And above all, I hope that the existence and content of the publication sparked dialogue.

Thanks for reading.