By Gavin Leton
The Huntingtonian has a long history dating back to 1918. Over the years, the Huntingtonian has been a highly active force at Huntington University with stories about soldiers serving in World War I, the Vietnam war, local businesses and stories from Huntington, prominent areas of conversation on campus, and so on. For the past few years, the Huntingtonian has been inactive and nonpublishing, however, a group of passionate students have worked and managed to bring it back.
One student who was influential in reinstating the Huntingtonian was junior Vanessa Gradeless who commented that “I am passionate about keeping alive a piece of Huntington University’s history.”
She has “always been interested in news publishing,” and when she found out there was student interest in the Huntingtonian “I decided that I would do everything in my power to bring it back for the campus.”
This process involved gauging and finding people interested in participating, securing an advisor, drafting a proposal through Student Government Association (SGA), and working toward final approval by Dr. Pepper as well as SGA. The first issue of the Huntingtonian was published last month on February 23rd and had drawn support from many throughout Huntington University.
Vice President for Student Life Dr. Ron Coffey stated that he was “so glad we are giving the Huntingtonian a restart,” as “campus newspapers are an important part of the overall campus ethos,” alongside providing “an outlet for student voices to be heard and for news about the campus community to be disseminated.”
Dr. Coffey added that “while I understand the role of the Huntingtonian is not public relations,” he did hope “to see articles that profile the positive things that are part of Huntington University’s continuing saga.”
Dr. Tanner Babb, professor of Psychology, commented “as a faculty member, my world is a little bit different than the student world,” providing examples such as “I don’t eat in the DC every day” and “I’m not in the dorms all the time,” but Dr. Babb believes “the Huntingtonian really is an opportunity for students to have a voice about the things that are of concern to them.”
Dr. Babb said “years and years ago, we didn’t get the Monday after Easter off. It was just Friday,” which presented a problem as “students have to come back on Easter.” In response to this, SGA and the newspaper pushed for Monday to be an off day and the administration agreed.
Dr. Babb stressed that assisting with the Huntingtonian was a commitment and students should strive to be respectful and responsible when writing, researching, and interviewing individuals. This would ensure that the Huntingtonian fostered a positive environment and relations between everyone on campus.
Though the process has been long and challenging, the Huntingtonian brings back student journalism, gives students an outlet to voice their concerns and thoughts, and fosters community together at Huntington University.
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