Student Spotlight: Catherine Baxter

It’s 2:30 A.M. Thursday morning and only a handful of egg rolls remain in an aluminum tray next to a half dozen empty chicken lo mein containers on a small conference table in a dimly-lit room in the basement of Montclair State University’s student center. Next to the conference table sitting at an old office desk is Montclair State senior Catherine Baxter, editor-in-chief of Montclair State’s student-run newspaper The Montclarion, and her copy editor, making the third and final round of edits to that week’s edition of the paper. Once completed, Baxter will have roughly 12 hours until she returns to The Montclarion’s newsroom later Thursday to hold the newspaper’s weekly editorial meeting to discuss the most recent edition of The Montclarion as well as topics for next week’s edition.

When Baxter isn’t entrenched in The Montclarion’s newsroom, she is glued to her phone answering emails, texts and calls from her writers and editors.

“It’s like a full-time job,” Baxter said. “I basically oversee everything to make sure it all runs smoothly.”

Despite the time-consuming aspect of the job, Baxter relishes her position as editor-in-chief because of the opportunity to work with a diverse group of students, which she highlighted as her favorite part of the job.

“I love working with a group of people with diverse backgrounds,” Baxter said, while mentioning that there are everything from journalism and English majors to science and political science majors on her staff. “It’s good to get such different perspectives when working on a collaborative project like the school paper.”

Baxter also mentioned the difficulties that come along with leading such a diverse group of students. “It’s not always easy to get so many people with strong opinions to buy in. Sometimes it’s hard to get everyone to work together.”

Despite the varying opinions and backgrounds on her staff, Baxter seemingly could not be prouder of the way they have come together to produce a quality paper. She talked about how the opinion section always publishes strong articles, including a series of articles about commuting to Montclair State during this past harsh winter. Baxter is proud of how the sports section has expanded over the last six months and is proud of how it now has balanced coverage of Montclair State and professional sports. She pointed out an interesting student spotlight that the entertainment section publishes about art students as well as interesting articles about food and nutrition that the features section often publishes. Baxter is also proud of the news section, in particular a controversial article published about assaults on college campuses and why they are not reported.

Despite leading an expansive student paper like The Montclarion, Baxter still finds time to write articles for the entertainment section of it. In particular, Baxter is most proud of a piece she wrote regarding ABC Family’s “Switched at Birth” and the issue of consensual sex.

“I thought the issue of date rape and alcohol is an important point to bring up in a college setting,” Baxter said.

Writing articles for a student-run paper is how Baxter became interested in journalism initially, when she wrote for her high school’s newspaper in Toms River, New Jersey. Then, on a visit to Montclair State during her orientation in 2011, Baxter talked to the editor in chief of The Montclarion at the time, and began writing for the news section later in the year as a freshman. From her freshman year on, Baxter climbed the ranks of The Montclarion. Starting her sophomore year she became the editor of the news section and by her junior year she was the managing editor.

With her four years involved with The Montclarion coming to an end in May, Baxter believes that her experience as provided her with valuable experience.

“I’ve learned how to work with diverse people in a fast-paced environment to accomplish a common goal,” Baxter said. “Also, I now understand the value of time management.”

Baxter will be attending graduate school at Montclair State in the fall, but isn’t sure where that will take her; she is torn between the communication field and higher education. But what she is sure of is she wants to work with a team that she can help grow.

“Being a leader is something anyone can value,” Baxter said.