Megan Greenwell, Barnard Junior, Elected Editor-in-Chief of Columbia Spectator
 Megan Greenwell, a Barnard junior and double major in American studies and religion, has been elected editor-in-chief of the Columbia Spectator , the student daily newspaper. As news editor of Spectator for the past year, Greenwell played a central role in the paper's redesign from a tabloid to a broadsheet and the introduction of color in the news pages.
A native of Berkeley, Ca., Greenwell, 20, began writing for Spectator as a first-year student and has covered major campus stories, both administrative and student-focused developments. Most recently, she has reported on the University Senate, new appointments by Columbia President Lee Bollinger and the development of the Columbia primary school.
With the successful redesign of the paper, the editors are now focused on their next big project: overhauling the paper's website to make it "more powerful and more interactive," Greenwell said. Also at the top of Greenwell's agenda as she begins her term as editor-in-chief in January will be outreach to alumnae and alumni of Spectator . The goal is to build a strong network among current Spectator reporters and editors and working journalists who are graduates of Barnard and Columbia, she said.
Greenwell said outreach will take the form of a revamped newsletter for Spectator alumni, along with a campus speakers' series by journalists who wrote for Spectator as undergraduates. She is putting the final touches on the program for the paper's annual fundraiser, the Blue Pencil Dinner, this February, which will feature a lecture by a prominent journalist.
Greenwell spent last summer as an intern at the Chatanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press , where she covered stories about the courts, crime and the military bases in the area, and contributed feature articles. She plans to pursue journalism as a career and noted that her combined major in American studies and religion offers a strong foundation for interpreting and analyzing major political and social trends.
Barnard has contributed many writers and top editors to Spectator over the years; Alice Boone, a graduate of the Class of 2003, was the most recent Barnard editor-in-chief.
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