Dear Students of the Claremont Colleges,
I am sure you enjoyed reading the sixth print edition of the Claremont Journal of Law and Public Policy, and I hope you are looking forward to the seventh as much as I am.
Reflecting on the last few years, I conclude quickly and confidently that my work with the CJLPP and its people has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my college career. I am eternally indebted to Byron Cohen (CMC ’16) and the others who founded this journal, for bringing me into it as much as for founding it. Working on the business side taught me the extraordinary value of punctuality, organization, and general professionalism. The hardworking writers and editors, as well as past Editors-in-Chief, have continually challenged me to improve not just my writing and editing but my thinking as well.
In our second year of operation, our online content attracted 3,148 views. In 2016, that number was 11,153 views. This Journal, which just over three years ago was planning its expansion from CMC to the other Claremont Colleges, now routinely receives submissions from places like Chicago, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, and India. We have published 68 pieces of original content from a variety of authors. Most of those were the product of intensive writer-editor collaboration over the course of multiple drafts. As I write this letter, six more articles are in the later stages of production, not to mention the ones we are expecting from 25 staff writers who have just begun this exciting process. One of our greatest successes last semester, the blog team, will be duplicated this semester.
It is our writing process, not the readership statistics or quantity of submissions, that has made me so proud to be a part of the CJLPP. It has always been my view that our Journal’s most valuable contribution is to our own writers and editors, who, through our Journal, achieve the kind of sustained, long-term collaboration on academic research and writing that one rarely finds in classes. I have seen writers become mini-experts in fields as varied as U.S. Supreme Court cases, public policy proposals for China, and the Pomona College Student Code.
As Editor-in-Chief, I felt my primary responsibility was to facilitate the long-term survival of the Journal. There is nothing I have done or seen that has made me more optimistic in that regard than the leadership April Xiaoyi Xu, our new Editor-in-Chief, has displayed. Her effectiveness and remarkable reliability make her an extremely valuable asset, and her unflinching dedication to the Journal is simply not up for debate. She is a goal-oriented realist who knows how, and on what, to work. Perhaps most importantly, April is genuinely supportive of her peers. I know of no one more capable of leading our Journal to future success and sustainability, and I leave with complete confidence that the wonderful journey initiated by our Journal’s founders will continue long after their graduations and my own.
With Love,
Martin J. Sicilian
Editor-in-Chief Emeritus
