March 2026
Dear Reader,
The theme of this month’s issue is “History Matters.” As a Political Science student with a minor in History, I am quite ecstatic about this issue. History reminds us that ideas rarely stay contained. What is argued in theory eventually manifests in practice, in some way or another. It is really easy to become disconnected from history, but my favorite part of it is how personal it becomes. History, in many ways, is a record of what happens when someone cares enough to act.
Believing in something is so easy when it is abstract. It is easy when it lives in conversations with friends, in classrooms, and in late-night debates that end in laughter. What is harder is when belief becomes visible, when it is attached to you. Believing is caring, and caring is rarely a neutral action. It will always ask something of you.
As I have gotten older, I have learned that belief is less about conviction and more about stewardship. I have always admired people who care deeply. This campus, without any conviction behind it, would be a quiet place. Belief is what drives us as students, professors, and faculty to serve, advocate, and build up a community. At BYU, caring is one of our greatest strengths. At universities, we are meant to have conviction. For four years of our lives, we are in a laboratory to wrestle with policy, morality, faith, and power in real time. But the health of a community is measured by the depth of its thought, not measured by the volume of its reaction.
Stewardship, I have come to believe, is the discipline of carrying our beliefs carefully into shared space. The biggest thing we can do is to engage when others think differently, avoiding punishment or caricature. Put down the keyboards in the comment section of a post and maybe consider writing a guest submission for this journal instead.
It is a short letter this month, mostly so you continue reading the amazing pieces by the staff and guest authors. Thank you for being willing to read this journal.
Best,
Annie Walker
Editor-in-Chief
