And in that sense, it is the only thing at Harvard that ties everyone—students, faculty, staff, administrators, everyone in all the nine schools of the University—together. It provides a common starting ground and makes us remember that even in all our differences, we share a community—a community all of us should care about. The news stories provide us with a collective body of knowledge, and the editorial page offers a forum in which every single person on the Harvard campus may participate through a letter or guest commentary.

So if you are only a casual reader of The Crimson, write it into your daily schedule. Take the 15 minutes in the morning to scan the headlines on the front, editorial, Real World and sports pages. Send a letter to the editor (letters@thecrimson.com). Call in a news tip (576-6565). Let us know what’s on your mind.

There is a sign on the door of the Crimson managing editor’s office that proclaims, “I will not philosophize. I will be read.” You can help us with that mission by reading the paper regularly—by telling us when we have let you down and when we have fulfilled your expectations.

Above all, do not forget that it is your paper. As much as we like to think, report and write, we are not involved in this pursuit simply to see our words in print. We are doing it so that every day, every morning, there is a paper out there for the community to read. So that, on the best days, we are not the only ones who feel the magic.

Sarah J. Schaffer ’97 served as editorial chair of The Harvard Crimson in 1996. This editorial originally ran on Jan. 22, 1997.