The Spectrum’s editorial board elected Izabella Ducato as its editor-in-chief for the 2025-2026 academic year Thursday evening.
Ducato, a junior business administration and law major, is currently The Spectrum’s assistant sports editor. She first joined the paper during the fall 2024 semester as a staff writer for the sports desk. Ducato says that she is looking forward to ensuring not only her personal success, but the success of The Spectrum overall.
“I'm super grateful,” Ducato said. “I know that for people to want to vote for you they have to trust you.”
Matt Parrino, The Spectrum’s faculty advisor, said that Ducato’s rise was “unprecedented.”
“This is, in my experience, one of the quickest ascensions from staff writer to editor-in-chief. It is super cool,” Parrino said. “It speaks to the belief that the staff has in her. The way she acts in the office and what she's produced in a short amount of time gives people the confidence that she’s gonna do a great job.”
Ricardo Castillo, The Spectrum’s current editor-in-chief, said that Ducato had a “meteoric rise.”
“I can say I’m comfortable leaving the paper in her hands, and I think she’s done a great job,” Castillo said.
Hannah Rashad, The Spectrum’s managing editor, praised Ducato’s character and work ethic.
“She's a great communicator and I'm excited to see what she's gonna do,” Rashad said. “She's always a positive light in the room during production days and editing everything. All the staff are really close friends with her, which is nice, and she really has that presence.”
When she assumes the role next year, Ducato’s biggest goal is improving the efficiency of the paper by consolidating writing and editing practices, speaking of her own experience as both a staff writer and an editor and the support that's needed in both areas.
“I definitely know what the staff writers feel like when they first come in and don't really know anything, and I know the kind of support that they need to be able to transition from a staff writer into an editor,” Ducato said. “I feel comfortable being in a position to help them with that and help the other editors make that transition a lot smoother for them so that we can keep bringing people in as editors.”
Ducato emphasized retaining staff writers to improve the paper's efficiency and output of high quality writing.
“At the end of the day we’re nothing without the people who are writing our stories,” Ducato said. “Finding staff writers and doing what we can do to keep them and encourage them to be the best version of themselves and making sure that we're growing our team so that we can stay afloat.”
The news desk can be reached at news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Wikimedia Commons
