Mathew Biadun | News-Editor With months still left to go, the 2026 Connecticut gubernatorial election is shaping up to be the most interesting in years. For the first time in over two decades, a governor is running for at third term, as Ned Lamont fights for another four years in Connecticut's top job. Also for the first time, he will no longer face Bob Stewanowski, his opponent in 2018 and 2022. A suite of new Republican challengers, and a Democratic one, will fight to win

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor From left to right at the front of the room is Aiden Smith, Jennifer Croughwell, Ned Lamont, & Mae Flexer. Seated at the top right is Wyatt Poehler. 3/5/26 - Two politicians, Ned Lamont and Mae Flexer, visited Eastern today during a visit to Willimantic. Lamont, Governor since 2019, is running for re-election, facing several Republicans currently engaged in a crowded primary, and a Democratic primary challenge. Flexer has served as the State Sen

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Two Eastern Students, Wyatt Poehler & Daniel Sylvester, Atop A Snow Bank: Picture Taken By The Author Another snowstorm swept across the Northeast last week, refilling snow banks and freezing sidewalks yet again. The snow was intense, with most towns experiencing at least a foot. Plainfield in the north experienced an astonishing twenty-seven inches , while Willimantic received eleven . In response, Eastern cancelled class Monday and Tuesday, wit

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor What are the politics of Eastern students? That question was posed to students on a Fizz poll last month. Respondents were allowed to choose between 'Democrat', 'Republican', 'Leftist', 'America First', 'Other', and 'Not Into Politics' as their answer. An astonishing 2119 students responded, likely providing the largest and most comprehensive look into the political beliefs of Eastern students yet created. A thin majority of students chose an o

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor The illuminated United States Capitol in Washington DC at night by elxeneize : Envato Donald Trump gave his fifth State of the Union address on Tuesday, taking a victory lap for several claimed policy accomplishments since taking office last January. The State of the Union speech is a constitutionally required remark by the President to Congress, occurring once every year. Pres. Trump made history with his speech, which was the longest in U.S

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Nearly a thousand students flocked into the Student Center last month, eager to celebrate Eastern's new logo, or at least, the perks that came alongside it. Students waited in a line stretching to the door for a free long-sleeve shirt bearing the new logo. Approximately 900 of the 1200 shirts Eastern ordered were handed out that day, with the rest put to storage for future events. Students technically had to download the new, digital version o

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor For the first time in six years, Connecticut’s Second Congressional District is going to see at least one new contestant, and possibly two, to represent it in the U.S. House. Current Rep. Joe Courney (D) had first won the seat in 2006, beating a Republican incumbent by just ninety votes from more than 242,000 cast. Since then, his victories have been far more assured, consistently getting about sixty percent of the vote. In both 2022 and 2024, for

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Fizz, the anonymous social media app open only to Eastern students, has become fairly integrated into Eastern life, with students using it daily to announce events, sell and buy items on the Marketplace, share memes, and of course, start drama. But although it may seem like Fizz has been here forever (and for many students, it has), it isn’t that old. It was only in the Fall of 2023 that the app launched at Eastern, spread around by Fizz ambas

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Winter Storm Benjamin blitzed across the Northeast last weekend, bringing snowfalls unseen in years. Every corner of Connecticut experienced large amounts of snow, with the highest being in Falls Village (Canaan), which saw an astounding 22” of snow . While Windham saw only 13.5” in comparison, it was still enough for Eastern to cancel classes on both Monday and Tuesday, granting all students, particularly commuters, reprieve from a freezing walk

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor A motive for public service, thirty-five year old Kyle Gauck says, has always motivated his life. A U.S. Army veteran who served on a special forces group for two deployments, Gauck says he, "...wanted to make a difference in the world and stand up and do something bigger than myself. To do it and not just say it, I wanted to actually do it." After leaving the army, Gauck spent several years working for large aerospace companies in Connecticut like

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Students who predicted Eastern was about to get a new logo were found half-correct today, as another email from the Marketing Department reached our emails. The new logo set to be revealed on the 29th is the new logo for the Athletics department, the current version of which is shown below. Although the logo is yet to be officially revealed, some merchandise has already been made with the new logo. One such shirt was posted on Fizz last week, an

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Eastern students waking up this morning (or perhaps, for the night owls amongst us, before they went to sleep) woke up to a mysterious email from the campus’ marketing team. What appears to be a giant red and blue ‘E’ cropped slightly out of frame, with only the words ‘THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING’, and a date (1/29/26), to describe it. The only other detail was that it was designed by Skyler Rapacioli, Class of 2028. The same content was shared s

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor The university faced backlash last week after a new, AI-generated advertisement  was posted to the university’s social media. The ad, notifying prospective students about an extension to the university’s no-fee application period, portrays Willi the Warrior studying at the beach. The description in the comments read: “Willi’s been taking notes… and he wants you to know something important. 👀✍️ Application fees are waived through the end of the da

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor Democrats in Windham saw a strong showing on Election Day, re-electing Tom DeVivo to a fourth consecutive term as Mayor. Along with the mayorship, Democrats won a strong majority on the City Council and Board of Education, while offices lower down the ticket were more competitive. It is important to note that elections in Windham use a minority representation rule , meaning that parties are limited in how many candidates they can run for a positi

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor For the first time in over a year, Democrats have reasons to be optimistic. At the end of 2024, Democrats had been soundly beaten across the board. Republicans seized control of the White House and both chambers of Congress which, along with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, effectively gave them firm control over all three branches of the federal government. In the year since, poll numbers for the party have plummeted, reaching lows

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor The biggest question looming over Connecticut politics was finally answered today. Ned Lamont, Connecticut’s two-term Democratic governor, is seeking to turn those two terms into three. He officially filed today  to run in 2026, alongside his lieutenant governor Susan Bysiewicz.  The announcement came after months of subtle hints and noncommittal responses. The final push appeared to be Tuesday’s election results where, amid a high turnout , Dem

Riley Backofen | Contributing Writer Gracyn Goodale | Contributing Writer Student being tutored. / Photo by 'KostiantynVoitenko', licensed by Envato.com . Transitioning from high school to college can be extremely overwhelming for many students. Dealing with the workload and new expectations can be difficult to achieve right away. Did you know that tutoring does not just help you fix your grades or understand more of the concepts you are learning, but it also improves your

Mathew Biadun | News-Editor “Love Coffee, Love People.” That’s the slogan of Silk City Coffee, and the philosophy that drives one of its founders, Tammy Gerhard. A member of Eastern’s Class of ’92, Tammy majored in psychology and went on to spend twenty-two years as a guidance counselor. Helping others was always at the heart of her work, in and out of school. Beyond counseling, she wrote children’s books and helped develop support programs for survivors of human trafficking

Mikayla Leskey | Arts and Entertainment About a month ago, Electronic Arts (EA) a company that creates video games such as “The Sims,” “Madden NFL,” and, “Battlefield,” announced that they are being acquired for a $52.5 billion deal by private equity firm, Public Investment Firm (PIF) Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners. This deal, if it goes through as planned, then it’ll be the biggest buyout funded by a private-equity firm. The news itself was unexpected. There was noise

Neva Allendorf | Contributing Writer Photo credit: Envato.com What if a student is struggling with their mental health at university? How will Eastern provide resources for their students that suffer from these issues? My partner, Cali Volpicelli, and I were curious about this topic and took it upon us to investigate the psychological resources on the Eastern web. There we saw CAPS; this stands for Counseling and Psychological Services. My partner reached out to Bryce Crasp