St. Edward's University's past is filled with enthralling stories, events and people since its birth in 1885. Its rich history paints a picture that showcases the school's intriguing persona. But how is it that we have such a clear idea of its past? We owe much of this fortunate documentation to the campus' student newspaper.
Though it now goes by the name, "Hilltop Views," this newspaper has had as many names as the school has had renovations.
Making its debut in 1888, the campus newspaper, for it was not strictly a student newspaper, was called "The College Echo," more commonly referred to simply as, "The Echo."
Name wasn't the only difference, however: the newspaper's focus and content was radically different as well.
The first issue featured an introductory salute to readers that read: ""We hope our company will prove not altogether disagreeable, if not captivating, and that you will bear with our foibles, for we are very young and wish to profit by experience."
Along with welcoming readers, the first issue also featured six feature stories. Among these was an article on "optional studies," or, electives, such as art, music, telegraphy and phonography. There was also a story announcing the construction of the Main Building, complemented with an architectural sketch displaying the awe-inspiring design.
Each subsequent issue functioned not only as a way to keep the the campus informed, but as an outlet for creative writers, featuring academic essays and short stories. Topics included everything from philosophical themes to sociological issues.
It was well-respected and even admired by other publications, including Notre Dame's Scholastic, which "concluded, after seeing three issues of the publication, that it had 'taken a leading position among the papers of the college world," according to Brother William Dunn's book, "St. Edward's University: A Centennial History." The Ave Maria also a Notre Dame publication, called it "an unpretentious but excellent little paper."
The University of Texas' campus newspaper, "Texas University" looked favorably on the "Echo," as well.
"The fact is we like your paper...in short, you have a well-rounded and well-proportioned paper, and one that does your credit," read a comment by "Texas University" in Dunn's book.
Another important feature, however, was the staff's choice to abide to a code of "impersonal journalism." News articles were rarely by-lined; writers' names were hardly ever mentioned, unless a creative essay or something of similar nature.
Quite a change from the present-day Hilltop Views.
Feeling the newspaper was in need of revamping, the editorial staff decided to make a dramatic change in 1947 and changed the name to "The Hilltopper."
The first issue summarized the history of St. Edward's up to that year and included a direct address from then-president Brother Edmond Hunt, to the students. He also directly addressed the newspaper's creators.
"I take this first issue of the Hilltopper as an opportunity to commend the enthusiasm of the paper's staff...this is no mean job...organizing a student publication laid to rest during the war years," said Hunt, for the publication had just picked up from discontinuance after the trying WWII years.
The new Hilltopper ran fairly smoothly in its almost-forty-year run, hitting only a few minor snags along the way, including a dispute over criticism of St. Edward's administration.
The Echo's editors, however, did attempt at taking a more "Aristotelian" character: balancing criticism, reporting and commenting on St. Edward's as well as Austin community events. They even saw that worldly issues of the day were addressed.
Eventually, however, the Hilltopper, according to Dunn's book, became something other than journalism. It eventually solicited enough negative response to bring about its discontinuance once again.
What ensued was a brief trial run of "The Edwardian" from 1984 to 1985. With a poor layout and writing style, however, it was short-lived.
Finally, after a two years of getting the paper together and revitalized, the St. Edward's community welcomed "Hilltop Views" in 1987.
While originally published by Student Life, the current newspaper in these past five years was moved to a humanities department publication.
Some feel that this has helped the newspaper become more in line with standard newspaper conventions.
"When I came to campus eight years ago, the focus of the newspaper would change a bit from year to year depending on the students involved and their interests. Now the paper has a steadier and crisper focus on campus news, and it reports the news consistently well," said Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, Richard Bautch.
Current co-chief editor Dianne Saathof agreed with this statement.
"We have a lot more credibility, so we're able to do a wider variety of interesting stories," said Saathof.
Nowadays, the newspaper has attained a near-standard-newspaper status; whereas in previous volumes the newspaper was bi-weekly, monthly, or even quarterly, Hilltop Views is now a weekly newspaper.
It is almost exclusively student-run, with a full staff consisting of section editors, copy editors, graphic designers, photographers and a marketing team. Writers are paid per issue and, instead of as before, where many of the writers were faculty and staff, contributers are now all students.
They hope to continue the tradition of preserving the campus' memories. After all, it is largely thanks to this long-standing hilltopper tradition that we know our school's past.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment