Ian Murphy Elected as Editor-in-Chief for the 2025-2026 School Year

In a two-candidate election during a May 6 meeting, Ian Murphy was elected by The Leader staff to serve as the editor-in-chief for the 2025-2026 school year.

Murphy currently serves as The Leader’s opinions editor and photo editor, positions he’s occupied since January 2024. Murphy has been a member of The Leader staff since he first began attending Elmhurst University in Fall 2023.

During the election, Murphy laid out ambitious plans to increase the paper’s reach beyond just the campus community and into the city.

“One of the biggest assets to EU’s success is its close-knit integration with the City of Elmhurst,” Murphy said. “Next year, I would like to begin distributing The Leader beyond the campus property line and strengthen those ties with our residential peers.”

Beyond that, he also discussed changing the format of how The Leader’s meetings are run, as well as his plans to bring in new staff members and keep them engaged.

“Every event that even one Leader staff member attends is a ‘Leader’ event,” Murphy said. “I want to make sure that everyone on campus knows who we are — and that we are there to serve you. I would like meetings to become more interactive and collaborative, featuring one-on-ones with section editors and encouraging workshop time, rather than solely working alone throughout the week.”

Lily Morgan, current Editor-in-Chief and graduating senior, said that she had no doubt Murphy would be up to the task.

“Ian has been a phenomenal asset to our editorial board this year, and has shown great initiative stepping up to wear all the hats when needed,” said Morgan. “Not only is he qualified for the position, he’s passionate about The Leader’s success. I can’t imagine leaving the paper in better hands.”

Eric Lutz, The Leader’s faculty adviser, agreed. “Ian is an exceptional student journalist and a strong leader,” Lutz said. “He is going to make an outstanding editor-in-chief.”

Although Murphy is involved in a lot on campus, he says he is looking forward to taking on the role of editor-in-chief, and that his previous leadership experience will prove beneficial for running The Leader.

“I’m excited to get to work,” said Murphy.

Murphy’s first issue with his new title will be this summer’s orientation issue.