eic@newuniversity.org

Laiyla "Lai" Santillan is the returning 2024-25 Editor in Chief . She is a third-year comparative literature major and political science minor. She joined New University in the fall of 2022, working as a Campus News intern. She later went on to work as the New University Managing Editor, before taking on the position of the Editor in Chief for the spring 2024 quarter. She has previously been published in the San Jose Mercury News, in addition to other school-based publications. She is currently an intern at Voice of America's News Center Hub.

manager@newuniversity.org

Jacob is entering his third year at both New University and UC Irvine and loves all things sports, music and sneakers. He will probably edit this bio himself later when he thinks of something funnier.

manager@newuniversity.org

Skylar Paxton is a Managing Editor for the 2024-2025 school year. She is a third-year Literary Journalism major. She joined New University in the fall of 2022 as an Opinion intern. In the spring of 2024, Skylar wrote for News during the UCI Pro-Palestine Encampment. She also works for KUCI News. During her free time, she likes to listen to Beyoncé and do origami.

operations@newuniversity.org

Avni Sinaga is the current Financial Manager. She is in her final year pursuing degrees in Quantitative Economics and Sociology. She is a major fan of Gromit from Wallace and Gromit.

copy@newuniversity.org

Jaheem Conley is the Copy Chief for the 2024–2025 school year. He joined as a Copy intern in winter 2023. Outside of NewU, Jaheem is a third-year double majoring in Political Science and Psychological Science. In his spare time, he loves listening to music and cooking. He looks forward to working with both his peers and newcomers this year.

copy@newuniversity.org

Jeanette Wallis is an Assistant Copy Editor for the 2024-2025 school year. She joined New U as a copy intern in spring 2023. Outside of New U, she is a fourth-year ChemE major. In her free time, she can most likely be found doing the Wordle or trying to convince people the letter J looks better without the line across the top.

copy@newuniversity.org

Annabelle Aguirre is a Copy Assistant for the 2024-2025 school year. She joined as a copy intern in fall 2023. Outside of New U, she is a third-year Korean Literature and Culture major. She also is a copy editor for a publishing house located in Laguna. In her free time she enjoys reading fiction books and spending time with her friends and family.

news@newuniversity.org

Karen Wang is a second year Public Health Sciences major and is the News Editor for the 2024-2025 school year. She previously was a City News Intern and City News Apprentice in the 2023-2024 school year. In her free time, she likes to play with her cat, watch documentaries and cook new things!

news@newuniversity.org

Beatrice Lee is a fourth year and political science and economics double major. She first joined New University in 2022 as a City News Intern and then worked as a City News Editor for over a year. She particularly enjoys writing and editing pieces centered around local government, community events and campus activity. In her free time, she enjoys reading and watching shows with her cat.

news@newuniversity.org

Victoria Le is an Assistant News Editor for the 2024-25 academic year. She joined New University in 2023 as a City News Writer, eventually becoming a Campus News Apprentice Editor. Victoria is in her fourth year, majoring in Literary Journalism and English, and minoring in Creative Writing.

news@newuniversity.org

Currently studying public health sciences at UC Irvine, Kaelyn graduated from Troy High School, Fullerton, where she first learned about journalism as a news writer and editor for the school’s newspaper. In summer 2024, Kaelyn joined New University’s editorial staff as an assistant news editor. When she isn’t editing, Kaelyn enjoys reading fantasy novels and webtoons.

entertainment@newuniversity.org

Lillian Beatrice Dunn is an Arts & Entertainment Editor for New University, double majoring in literary journalism and gender & sexuality studies and minoring in creative writing. She has over 50 published pieces, including interviews with indie band Small Crush, dark-pop princess Ashley Sienna, and jewelry designer Lisa Sahakian of Ian Charms. She has freelanced for OUT FRONT Magazine and the LA Dance Chronicle and has previously held staff writer positions at Her Campus UCI and Fever Dreams Magazine.

entertainment@newuniversity.org

entertainment@newuniversity.org

Alaina Retodo is one of the Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editors for the 2024-2025 school year. Majoring in English with a minor in Film & Media Studies, this is Alaina's second year working with New U to share the latest pop-culture updates and takes on music, film, TV, and more. Fueled by their passion as a diehard SEVENTEEN fan, they are eager to continue writing about the things they love and helping other writers do the same.

sports@newuniversity.org

Benjamin enjoys all things storytelling, from books, verbal storytelling, and everything in between. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Benjamin was able to grow up with multiple views of the world - especially with that of his Mexican heritage. Attending UCI for his BA in Literary Journalism, Benjamin hopes to one day enter the journalism field - either in the sports reporting department, or entertainment department (while still having a focus on storytelling).

sports@newuniversity.org

Jack has been writing for various publications for the past six years and he has covered a variety of topics such as campus life, news, features, politics, education, community news and most recently sports. He enjoys almost all aspects of UC Irvine and has a particular interest in the athletics at UC Irvine, whether intercollegiate, club or intramural. His favorite UC Irvine game to this point has been the Men's Soccer vs UC Davis Big West Championship in 2023. You can usually find Jack on campus at a variety of events, but almost always at UC Irvine intercollegiate athletic events.

opinion@newuniversity.org

Trista is a third-year philosophy major with a criminology minor, and 2024-25 Opinion Editor. All of which has given her the perfect opportunity to overthink just about everything, including (especially) this bio. In her free time she loves to read and heavily annotate books, bask in the sun with her cats, and illegally dabble in the teachings of the Oxford comma manifesto as an AP-style abiding citizen.

opinion@newuniversity.org

Zahira Vasquez serves as an Assistant Opinion Editor for the 2024-2025 school year. As a first-generation political science student, she plans to pursue a career in the legal field after graduation. Having been involved with the newspaper since spring 2023, Zahira looks forward to focusing on Chicano/Latinx topics in the coming year to deepen her connection to her Latinidad through writing 🙂

graphicdesign@newuniversity.org

Avery Huffer is a Graphic Design Manager at New University for the 2024-2025 school year, and has been with the publication since her freshman year in 2021. Her work embraces the creative aspects of the publication, and enjoys the opportunity to get more involved in the UCI community. Avery is a fourth year Criminology, Law, and Society and Psychological Sciences double major, and in her spare time she enjoys going on runs, making trips to the beach, and creating Pinterest boards for any and every occasion she comes across.

graphicdesign@newuniversity.org

Natalie Yu is a New University Graphic Design Manager for the 2024-2025 school year. She is currently a fourth-year Art major and Digital Arts minor interested in storytelling through visuals. Since joining in spring 2023 as a Graphic Design Intern, she has created graphics for numerous New U articles – particularly interested in Arts and Entertainment topics. Outside of the publication, Natalie works as the Director at Large of Conceptual Collective Plus and a curator at the Catalyst UAG. During her free time, Natalie is an avid Splatoon 3 player and enjoys experimenting with various traditional and digital art mediums.

photo@newuniversity.org

Sarah Millington is a third year Psychological Sciences and Criminology, Law and society major. She is the New University Photo Manager and one of the Social Media Managers for the 2024-2025 school year. Sarah has a passion for media and publicity, and feels strongly about capturing photos to facilitate journalism. She is also an avid writer and loves all things creative so she is especially excited to continue working with New University in a leadership role. In her personal time, she loves spending time with her cat, Bambi and baking sweet treats!

publicrelations@newuniversity.org

Caroline Lu is a sophomore majoring in literary journalism at UC Irvine. She will be the Assistant Social Media Manager for the 2024-2025 year. As a previous social media intern for New U, she is stoked to take on this opportunity.

video@newuniversity.org

Diana is a first-generation transfer student and fifth-year Literary Journalism and Film and Media Studies double major with a love for storytelling. On top of being Video Editor at New University she is also an audio intern with KUCI News where she hosts the KUCI News podcast. While at community college Diana held various editorial positions for the student run print and digital newspaper as well as the summer magazine. When she isn’t working on assignments Diana enjoys hanging out and cooking with friends.