We, the alumni of Ripples, write to thank Mr. Michael Halloran for nearly 20 years of service as faculty advisor to the independent student newspaper that gave hundreds of our voices a home. His hard work and dedication inspired in us a love of journalism and a deep understanding of its importance to democracy. It also fostered our curiosity and gave us a moral purpose that would endure for decades—long after our own bylines disappeared from these pages.
“Journalism is a human business,” Mr. Halloran liked to say—a truism that spoke to both the empathy we owe to our sources, as well as to the patience we owe to ourselves. On occasion during the course of his tenure, when school administrators or staff took issue with something that appeared in the paper, Mr. Halloran always stood up for his students and for a free press. But equally as important, he impressed in us the importance of getting it right, and the power that earnest humility has to smooth over any disagreement. “If you put your best foot forward, people will take you seriously,” he would say.
A small sample of how Mr. Halloran shaped our Shorewood experience, and our lives:
Congratulations, Mr. Halloran, on two decades of inspiring young Ripplers. And thank you for all that you’ve done.
