Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Commencement 2025 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Graduating senior Rachel Liu picked up a few shifts as a copy editor at the Daily during her first semester at Tufts, and since then, she has gotten to know every aspect of what it means to be a student journalist. Over her time at the Daily, she has officially contributed to 11 sections across written content, multimedia and production.
“I would just come in and copy edit and do some small tasks for the Daily here and there, and it just kind of snagged me in and held on,” Liu said.
Her mile-long Daily resume contains positions such as executive copy editor, associate editor, executive newsletter editor, editor-in-chief and executive photo editor. Liu holds the record for most executive positions held at the Daily.
While she’s tried her hand at almost everything, copy editing holds a special place in Liu’s heart.
“Something still appeals to me about reading every article, staying in the know and making the little tweaks that we can to improve the overall appearance of the paper,” Liu said.
For the entirety of her senior year, Liu was the executive photo editor, reinvigorating the Photo section and diving deeper into an interest that allowed her to explore new areas of Tufts.
“When I have the camera in hand, I feel like I’m going on a side quest on campus,” she said. “I went to an [international relations] symposium, and I’m not an IR major. I don’t really interact with the department as much, but that’s what I love — that you just go and see all the different sides of Tufts campus that you normally wouldn’t.”
Liu was a harbinger of change at the Daily, breathing life into smaller sections as well as innovating in the larger sections that she was a part of.
“I think she just genuinely makes every section that she’s ever been exec of better in very concrete, logistical ways,” graduating senior Marlee Stout, a former associate editor during Liu’s term as editor-in-chief, said. “She was one who came up with the idea to have a deputy copy exec. Before her, copy execs were coming in three nights a week every other week, which was horrible. She made Newsletter a section. She made Photo a section.”
Along with her achievements in the Daily, she is well-known among staff for her kind words and spirit.
“She’s extremely humble, and I think she’s the kindest and most welcoming person in the Daily. There’s no one she doesn’t know, and if there is, she’ll find them, and she’ll say hello, and she’ll introduce herself, and then she’ll remember names,” rising senior Julieta Grané, former editor-in-chief and a managing editor during Liu’s term as editor-in-chief, said.
Two semesters ago, when I wrote my first article for the Daily, Liu was the first person to reach out to me. She congratulated me on my work and told me to keep writing, and as I’ve continued my time at the Daily, she has been nothing but supportive. I don’t believe I would have risen in the ranks of the Daily if it weren’t for Liu’s encouragement. Many would say the same for themselves.
“I owe my entire Daily career to Rachel. And I think she’s truly just gone above and beyond,” Stout said.
Liu’s time at the Daily hasn’t been all work and no play. She’s won “The Hunt” — the Daily’s semesterly scavenger hunt — twice in her four years here and has many fond memories in the Daily office in the basement of Curtis Hall.
“[My favorite memories were] just all the little moments in the office, like when it snowed at 2 a.m. and we all ran out and watched the snow in between editing pages of [the print paper],” Liu said.
Outside of the Daily, Liu is a biology major and a French minor. She’s been a part of the Molecular Cardiology Research Institute lab at the Tufts Medical Center and a teaching assistant for the introductory biology labs.
“That was a fun community to be a part of — meeting all of the prospective majors and making sure that they didn’t set anything on fire,” Liu said.
Compared to other extracurricular activities, the Daily took up most of Liu’s time.
“I’ve done clubs for fun, but I think the Daily is really my core club community here and what I would most strongly identify myself with,” she said.
Liu reflected on the significant role that this paper holds at Tufts.
“The print paper really does mean a lot to me. I love seeing people with it on campus, even if they’re using it as an umbrella,” she said. “There’s something so essential for a campus to have a physical paper like that you can just pick up, that you can do the crossword in, you can read on the T.”
Liu was editor-in-chief for the spring 2024 semester, which ended in an encampment that garnered national media attention.
“[Student journalists] get the more nitty-gritty than the national [outlets] — the helicopters flying overhead are not going to get the same perspective as us in the crowd, or if we have fostered those relationships like face to face,” Liu said. “So I think that that’s a vital role of student journalism.”
Entering the Daily as a copy editor, Liu didn’t get much experience in the reporting side of journalism until her time on the managing board.
“People whose names I first started seeing pop up on the website or in a byline … getting to meet them in person … [and] seeing them rise through the Daily ranks has been so gratifying,” she said. “I started out as an editor and not a writer; I learned later in my time how vulnerable it is … to have your work be out there with your name attached to it. I’ve gained so much appreciation for everyone who’s been doing that since day one.”
After graduation, Liu plans on moving to Madison, Wis., where she’ll be working in healthcare software. While she’s unsure if a journalism-related career or side hustle will be in her future, her work on the Daily has changed the way she understands news.
“I think, as a reader and a consumer of news, the best way to understand how articles come together … is to actually do it,” Liu said.
