While it is the hardest thing — and most demanding — that I have to do every year by far, The Hues Graduation Issue is also such a very educational endeavor for me. And it is very intellectually challenging for me.

During the course of publishing this issue, I will have read comments by or listened to about 285 graduates on the high school level and college level. And I have to understand fully what the graduates are telling me so that I can bring their voices to the fore in the newspaper. That’s a whole lot of people I need to listen to and understand.

In the Hues Row of Excellence, we have 275 graduating seniors of color who are graduating with a 3.0 Cumulative GPA or higher from a Dane County high school. The students complete an information form that lists their school and community activities, awards and recognitions they have received and which college they plan to attend and what their major is.