enior Profile: Former executive arts editor Jack Clohisy reflects on Daily experience

by Ryan Fairfield Arts Editor

Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for the Daily’s Commencement edition that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.

As hundreds of prospective first-years roamed around campus on Jumbo Days, former executive arts editor and senior Jack Clohisy reflected on his journey with the Daily over the course of his college years. Clohisy, who grew up not too far from Tufts in West Newbury, Mass., is graduating with majors in computer science and cognitive and brain science and has been a contributing member of the Daily since the summer of 2020.

Clohisy discussed what prompted him to join the Daily.

“I had always had a passion for the arts, specifically music, and I always liked writing as well,” he said. “But, I’ve never been in a space where I could write my thoughts that were published to a wider audience.”

Clohisy started his Daily career with an op-ed that was published in July of 2020. He wrote about racism in the music industry, a product of his passion for music. Following this piece, Clohisy went on to write a column in the fall of his sophomore year, “The Weekly Rewind.” After spending some time in the opinion section, Clohisy transitioned to arts.

Clohisy joked that being a part of the Daily was a “snowball effect” for him, with him starting as a columnist and eventually increasing his involvement and working his way up to executive arts editor during the fall 2022 semester.

“I just started to find lots of excitement in a lot of different areas that the Daily had to offer,” Clohisy said.

Wanting to be more involved in the Daily’s process and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into producing a student newspaper, Clohisy applied to be an editor and soon went on to become the section’s leader.

“I was curious to take on a role that might have been a little bit more administrative or a position where I got to work with a wider group of people,” Clohisy said.

As the executive editor of the arts section, Clohisy saw and edited every article that was published under that section, while also being able to connect with more of the Daily team like the managing board and other executive editors.

When asked about the Daily community, Clohisy said he found it to be incredibly unique.

“The community aspect of the Daily has been something I’ve appreciated during my time with the Daily, specifically, because everyone at the paper has a passion in a different area,” Clohisy said. “And that’s something that’s really unique, because I feel like it’s very reflective of the Tufts community as a whole.”

Being a part of the Daily allowed Clohisy to connect with various members of the Tufts community, whether they were reading his articles or being interviewed for one. Clohisy referred to his series of articles interviewing Tufts professor Stephan Pennington as the pieces he was most proud of. The three-part series, which Clohisy said could have been 10–15 articles long, brought him a specific sense of pride as he felt he was able to share someone’s personal story and spotlight a unique voice in the Tufts community.

“I really was proud of those pieces, not because of necessarily my writing or my specific contribution, but to even just be a part of a conversation that got to spotlight his voice,” Clohisy said.

Looking back on his years at the Daily, Clohisy said he was happy to have found a place that allowed him to express his creativity.

“What I learned from [the Daily] was to be able to go off into whatever the next chapter of my life looks like, and find my next ‘Tufts Daily arts section,’ Clohisy said. “To find the next space in my life where I am able to express that creativity and find a community of people that value people’s independent, individual excitements and their passions.”

Ultimately, Clohisy talked about how gratifying writing for the Daily is and how it is a space where one is able to express their passions and write about what they love, while also informing fellow members of their community — something that is an incredibly fun experience.

“We’re giving information to the Tufts community and the greater community at large,” Clohisy said. “But, you get to talk about things that you love, and you don’t always get to do that in professional journalistic spaces. So have fun with it, write what you want and be creative.”

Having written countless articles himself, Clohisy advised non-graduating members of the Daily to keep writing and keep expressing their voices.

“It’s always great to build up page upon page upon page of your articles, of your opinions, of your pieces, of your interests,” Clohisy said. “I think, for myself, I’m going to look back at when I was in college, and I’m going to see all the different pieces that I wrote and it’s going to bring me back memories of those times in my life where I was out when I wrote those pieces, and it’s like a mini time capsule to have for myself.”