The year 2023-2024 witnessed a drastic change in the Middle East – and by extension, the world’s – economic and sociopolitical climate. What these shifts brought for us at The Gazelle was nothing short of an Everest of challenges. That being said, the tenure saw many overpromised and underdelivered goals for NYU Abu Dhabi’s students, and the larger community between Abu Dhabi, and the UAE.

This year, The Gazelle returns with a laundry list of mistakes to correct, people to talk to, stories to share, and critiques to disseminate. We bring with us not just an enthusiastic and curious team, but also a drive to right our wrongs, question what we take for granted, and acknowledge what we must be grateful for. We have spent our first few weeks in this space strategizing a course of action here-on, which revolves around intentionality, creativity, and accountability. Any and all corrections start at home, and that is our aim for this year.

Ensuring that we publish an issue within the first two weeks of the academic year was a goal we set out for ourselves so that we could re-establish our presence as NYU Abu Dhabi’s weekly source of news, opinions, personal essays, and little snippets of genius and joy.

Therefore, what we were unable to complete last year, is now proudly the face of The Gazelle’s new year – our first (and special!) issue, . This issue, consisting of back-dated, unpublished pieces from the previous tenure, is an ode to our commitment to sharing the community’s stories and voices regardless of the obstacles we may encounter – we slow down but we keep on.

Lastly, thank you to everyone who pointed fingers. We have been able to look at the publication we cherish dearly, more objectively, and we have reflected on how to improve. We also can’t ignore the unwavering belief of everyone who consciously chose to stick around. It has now enabled us to bounce back. Thank you, we are still here, and here to stay.

With utmost sincerity,

The Gazelle 2024-2025