The WSN Editorial Board eagerly anticipates a new year of informed debate and discussion among bright writers and impassioned readers of the news that most affects students and the NYU community. Printed Monday through Thursday, with more content published exclusively on our website throughout the week, WSN remains NYU’s official newspaper and the main source of university news for students. Student-run and student-produced, we provide a distinct and independent perspective on the management and runnings of NYU.

Last year, the university campus was what NYU President John Sexton called, “a hotbed of contention.” But that description fails to capture how fractured the Sexton administration’s relationship is with NYU faculty and students, who have voiced fervent objections to Sexton’s leadership in a litany of widely publicized votes of no-confidence and numerous student demonstrations. Sexton’s expansion plans for the years leading up to NYU’s bicentennial in 2031 was also greeted with staunch opposition from Greenwich Village and East Village residents, culminating in two dismissed lawsuits.

Of all the controversies, perhaps the loudest in recent memory are Sexton’s plans for international expansion. The university community has voiced deep concern over the decision to open campuses in the United Arab Emirates and China, claiming it inappropriately diverts funding and stretches university resources thin. Also, given these countries’ records of censorship and persecution, building academic environments in these locations has important implications regarding NYU’s commitment to higher education, diversity and human rights.

Outside of NYU, the fierce battle for New York City mayor is underway and the results will leave a large impact on the city’s residents and students. The city’s next leader has a host of issues to address, including housing, education reform and the increasing income gap. And in the wake of the federal ruling, which deemed NYPD’s broad stop-and-frisk tactics unconstitutional, the new mayor will have serious decisions to make regarding effective tools of policing, racial disparity in the city and the treatment of minorities in high-crime areas.

Over the course of the next semester, the Editorial Board will continue to ask tough questions of our city’s government and our school’s administration, constantly challenging an inadequate status-quo. Under new leadership this fall, the Opinion desk plans to examine pressing issues that matter most to students, such as student debt, university governance, employment after college, social equality and more.

Additionally, our columnists will contribute a wide variety of individual opinions on current events and university news. Our debate series, Op-Ed Live, will return for a second year, giving our readers the unique opportunity to view video discussions of the latest, most controversial issues. We look forward to an ever-expanding and improving Opinion section with more online and multimedia content, and to a semester filled with enlightened, ongoing discourse among our writers and our readers.

A version of this article appeared in the Aug. 25 print edition.

Editorial Board: Raquel Woodruff (Chair), Edward Radzivilovskiy, (Co-chair), and Peter Keffer (Co-Chair). Email the WSN Editorial Board at [email protected].