Ashlee Woods, a junior majoring in news media at the University of Alabama, will captain The Crimson White student newspaper beginning in May.

She is third Black student and the first Black woman to hold the role in the paper’s 129-year history, according to the newspaper’s archives. She currently is editor in chief of the Nineteen Fifty-Six magazine, which highlights Black culture and excellence at the university.

“I wanted to create a path for future Black women to take on this role,” she said of her decision to apply for The Crimson White role. “If someone has to be first, it’s going to be me. That’s what I have to do. That’s what needs to be done. Representation matters.

Woods is passionate about sports journalism, wants to help student journalists do more features and video journalism and plans to continue the paper’s diversity and inclusion efforts.

“I bring a lot of different perspectives to the table, not just my race and gender,” she said.

In recent years, the newspaper has focused on recruiting more students of color, covering a broader range of stories, interviewing diverse sources and adding a DEI role to the editorial staff.

Woods is originally from Delaware and has always enjoyed tracking teams, athletes and statistics. She loves the Philadelphia Eagles and women’s basketball.

“I love sports because we all want to believe we can do something great some day,” she said.

In 2020, she began a sports blog and began to consider journalism. She jumped on The Crimson White staff and quickly found herself interviewing Nick Saban, joining the staff of Nineteen Fifty-Six and helping other student journalists find their footing.

A highlight of her time in sports journalism so far has been stepping in to cover Alabama softball — and realizing that Lexi Kilfoyl was pitching a perfect game, Woods said.

“That was pretty cool. My first time covering softball, and I walk in, and get to see a perfect game.”

Woods was on staff of student media during the rise of Alabama basketball — and while The Crimson White newsroom covered the shooting death of Jamea Harris in February. Athlete Darius Miles was charged with capital murder.

“It immediately became such a polarizing issue on campus,” she said, noting debate about other athletes’ potential involvement and what criminal cases could mean for the basketball program.

Woods has won multiple awards for her writing, including the UA Student Media Planning Board’s 2022 James E. Jacobson award for writing and fourth place sports game story in the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker for “2022 Story of the Year.