Sophomore Ana Despa will serve as the editor-in-chief of The Chronicle’s 121st volume.
In a staff-wide election Friday evening, members of the student newspaper chose Despa to succeed junior Abby Spiller as editor-in-chief of The Chronicle and president of the Duke Student Publishing Company, Inc., the publisher of the independent, student-run daily newspaper.
Despa, an associate news editor and biomedical engineering major, will begin her one-year tenure April 23. The Lexington, Ky., native will be the first engineering student to lead the newspaper since the 117th volume.
“The Chronicle has a unique angle that it can bring to Duke and Durham coverage,” Despa said. “I want to leverage the fact that we’re both students and journalists, which allows us to produce unique coverage and delve deeper into stories than other news outlets may.”
Despa aims to expand The Chronicle’s coverage to include year-long series exploring issues of interest to the University community. She also hopes to highlight impactful Duke and Durham community members — including “fan-favorite” professors — and enhance the newspaper’s use of data.
“We have a lot of passionate staff that want to take on a larger role in the paper,” Despa said. “I want to take care of the small details to enable the staff to do what they do best.”
To Despa, leading the newspaper will require strong communication, collaboration and “listen[ing] more than [she] speak[s],” adding that she looks forward to engaging the perspectives of staff members across The Chronicle’s multiple departments.
“Ana is really a pleasure to work with,” Spiller said. “Every day she comes into the office, she constantly brings a strong work ethic and desire to make the paper better.”
She lauded Despa as an “out-of-the box thinker” who will bring a “special perspective” as an engineering student. According to Spiller, Despa’s tenure will meet the unique challenge of covering how the Trump administration may impact the higher education landscape.
News Editor Zoe Kolenovsky, a junior, shared enthusiasm about Despa’s affinity for both data-driven and human-interest journalism as a “really insightful and inquisitive reporter.”
“We love to run hard-hitting pieces, but it’s also important to tell the stories that make Duke such a vibrant community,” Kolenovsky said. “There’s a lot of scholarly innovation that happens on our campus, but also a lot of really beautiful personal connection[s], and I’ve been impressed with the eye Ana has for those kinds of illuminating stories.”
University News Editor Lucas Lin, a sophomore, described Despa as a “determined” leader with a “good vision” for The Chronicle’s future.
To Lin, Despa seeks to leverage “accountability journalism” to build trust and “bridge the gaps between community members,” both on campus and in the broader Durham community.
This volume, Despa’s reporting has ranged from evaluating the University’s investments in offshore entities and exploring faculty perspectives on academic freedom at Duke to analyzing the prospective impact of Hurricane Helene on the 2024 election in North Carolina.
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Michael Austin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.