Hatchet Editor in Chief-elect Kate Stepan said she wants to open lines of communication between the Hatchet and students.

Elected by the Hatchet editorial staff Saturday, Stepan, a junior from Tripoli, Penn., is set to take the reigns of the newspaper May 13.

“I want to make students love the paper,” Stepan said. “We have made good progress this year . but I want to make sure what students are talking about will be in the paper.”

Stepan has worked for The Hatchet as a photographer, news writer and news editor during the past three years. Editors and writers describe her as an approachable, friendly person and a leader.

Stepan started her career at The Hatchet as a freshman photographer. While most photographers only are required to take pictures, Stepan said she wrote captions for all her pictures when she realized that she wanted to write.

Current Editor in Chief Russ Rizzo said he is confident Stepan will help the newspaper improve and get better in touch with the issues of the student body.

“She has strong leadership skills, works well with the staff and loves the newspaper,” Rizzo said. “She really wants it to be the students’ paper.”

Rizzo said he hopes Stepan will continue to press for better access to Student Judicial Services sanctions, oversee more investigative reporting and give a face to the paper by making sure students can identify her.

Stepan said she would like to reach out to student groups so the paper will better portray all the activities on campus.

“We would like to reach out to student groups .and really try to understand the issues behind events,” she said.

Stepan said she would like groups to send The Hatchet press releases and keep in touch with the paper to inform editors about issues behind events.

“Often we don’t cover events because people just don’t want to read about plain events,” she said.

She plans to change the look of the newspaper with a bigger weekend pull out on Thursdays, with an expanded arts and features section.

“We are looking to bring the writing in all sections up to the next level . writing in a way that will be fun to read,” Stepan said.

Stepan also hopes to continue to foster a close, working relationship with the administration.

“(Rizzo) started a good avenue of communication that we would like to broaden,” Stepan said.

She said she will make herself available to students with concerns and would like students to feel comfortable approaching her on campus.

“I feel like as a student paper, we need to know what students want and make it enjoyable to read the paper,” Stepan said.