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Friday, March 29, 2024

Calling all future Dave Barrys, Maureen Dowds, Carl Hiaasens and Thomas Friedmans: The Alligator is accepting applications for Spring 2014 columnists, and we want YOU.

The Alligator publishes five times a week — Monday through Friday — during the Fall and Spring semesters. This means we need students of every age, major, year, political ideology and walk of life to write weekly 500- to 600-word columns.

If you’re interested in becoming a columnist, you should submit to opinions@alligator.org a resume, a brief cover letter explaining why you’d be a good fit for the position and a short explanation of your political persuasion — conservative, liberal, libertarian, socialist, etc. Please keep in mind that “Republican” and “Democrat” are parties, not ideologies.

If you have been previously published or keep a blog, please send three examples of your work. If you have not been published before, you may send two 500- to 600-word writing samples demonstrating what your work for the Alligator would be like.

Applicants should be able to produce articulate, thought-provoking analyses and commentary on current events. Anything is fair game: domestic and foreign politics, pop culture, health, environmental issues, personal finance, sex and relationships, issues facing minority communities and campus politics.

We’re looking for strong writers familiar with basic elements of style and who have a passion for deadlines and AP Style. A sharp sense of humor helps.

If you apply and are not selected as a weekly columnist, we still strongly encourage you to submit guest columns and letters to the editor. We accept these submissions throughout the semester and value input from our readers on campus happenings, local, state and national politics and anything else that appears on the op-ed pages.

Guest columns should be about 450 words, and they should include the author’s name, year, major and the school he or she attends. All statistics, references, facts and figures should be sourced and cited. Letters to the editor should be about 200 words and should include the author’s name and any relevant information — major, organizations he or she belongs to, etc.

Above all, a columnist’s job is to take a stand using facts and reputable sources to defend his or her opinions.

Columnists should frame their arguments in an articulate, structured, succinct manner and should strive to present original topics and material.

At the Alligator, we value integrity, professionalism and honesty at all times.

Alligator columnists earn more than just a line on their resume: As a columnist, you have the opportunity to build a professional portfolio of published clips to show future employers your ability to communicate clearly, write with authority and poise, meet deadlines and work with editors.

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Plus, you can mail your grandma clips to show off to her book-club friends. Everyone wins.

A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 12/3/2013 under the headline "Open columnist spots for Spring: Apply today"

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