I don’t think the general student body realizes just how much people who work for the Daily Trojan love this paper.

Back in December 2024, when I heard that the University would be scaling back the DT’s funding, I felt a sense of duty to apply for the sports editor position. Given that general staff would no longer be paid a cent for writing articles while editors would be paid a nominal amount, considering the number of hours we work, I worried that the content’s quality would suffer. Time is money, USC students are busy and tuition is expensive, so I believed it’d be tougher to find motivated staffers. 

Even for me personally, committing to the Daily Trojan made little sense practically. I have struggled with financial insecurity my entire tenure at USC, and was still in search of a paying job — which was absolutely non-negotiable given my financial situation — at the time that I accepted the Daily Trojan position.

But it made perfect sense to my heart. I felt a sense of passion for giving back to the paper and the sports section that had granted me so many opportunities over my four years at USC, alongside a sense of urgency given the paper’s uncertain financial future. Being a devout Christian, I believe it was a God-given assignment, but regardless, I know that many people can relate to this feeling I had: that working for DT was what I was meant to do, even if it didn’t make practical sense. 

Approaching the end of the semester, I still believe that I was meant to do it. However, I was completely wrong; I was not the hero of this story. 

I honestly underestimated how much people care about the Daily Trojan. There are people on the masthead who love the paper way more than I do.

Don’t get me wrong, I am deeply passionate about the Daily Trojan. Being a part of Student Publications has easily been the highlight of my academic career at USC. 

I have gotten to interview and write exclusive stories about a former MLB player, the #1 women’s basketball recruit in the country, two of the most famous collegiate beach volleyball players in the world, an international baseball star, not one, but two McDonald’s All-Americans in the same year, a basketball player making a triumphant comeback from cardiac arrest and best-friends-turned-beach-volleyball teammates.

That doesn’t even cover what I have been able to accomplish as a columnist as well, including writing a column about professional hockey players from Southern California — the likes of which you can’t really find anywhere else.

All of those stories exist because of the tutelage and support of people at the Daily Trojan. Even this story only exists because the opinion editors gave me a chance to write for their section, even though I hadn’t written for it at any other time in my four years. I am forever indebted to this paper, and I can only hope that something I’ve done during my time at it has given value back to Student Publications in some small way. 

But there are writers and editors on staff right now who I feel contribute far more than I do. I am merely a quiet witness to their devotion, sitting there in awe as they take on long hours and difficult work that I never could, taking the high standard that over a century of Daily Trojan staff have set, and elevating it even further. I could never shout them all out in one article, but you all know who you are: I see you and I am proud of you.

I am a firm believer that the best journalism on campus is done at the Daily Trojan, and this semester has only made that more clear. All the while, the general student population goes about their lives relatively unaware of this silent crusade. We only seem to be a topic on campus when we accidentally find ourselves mixed up in controversy, somehow on the corner of the internet that shakes with excitement at the mere thought of putting their latest “witty” hate comment in our comment section on Instagram. 

But I am not writing this article to guilt-trip the student body into picking up a copy of the paper. What I instead hope this article accomplishes is a celebration of my coworkers. They have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that good journalism is prevalent in our young people and that even in the face of opposition and discouragement, the fire of authentic storytelling continues to burn like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum torch in the fourth quarter. 

I am no longer afraid for the future of this paper like I was in December. Regardless of whether we are read, funded or otherwise supported, this paper will continue to exist because of the deep love that Daily Trojan staffers have for making the best newspaper possible. 

I may not have stockpiled much cash in the newsroom this semester. But the stack of Daily Trojan print issues on my desk is a far greater gift: a gift that will matter far longer to Daily Trojan staffers than any wage ever could. 

“Editors’ Epilogue” is a rotating column featuring a different Daily Trojan editor in each installment writing about their personal experiences. Ethan Inman is a senior majoring in journalism and is a sports editor at the Daily Trojan.