The Springfield Student (vol. 113, no. 3) Oct. 8, 1998

Abstract

"The Springfield Student” was first published in 1909 in the Association Seminar, an alumni publication. The portion published in the Association Seminar has been digitized and can be seen in The Springfield College Alumni Magazine Collection (“The Spring http://cdm16122.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/search/collection/p16122coll3/searchterm/The%20Springfield%20Student/field/spring/mode/all/conn/and/order/date). Generally, “The Springfield Student” includes information about student organizations, athletics, alumni, and events. It also occasionally includes student poetry and fiction, as well as the conclusions of student-designed research. As the publication evolved, “The Springfield Student” began including editorials on world events and popular culture, as well as letters to the editor. Originally, the “Springfield Student” was published monthly from October through June, and its formatting resembled a magazine. In October 1913, the cover illustration simplified to only the title, the date, and the capital letter “S,” but the content and structure remained unchanged. On September 27, 1916, “The Springfield Student” was reformatted to resemble a newspaper: the pages decreased from around thirty to just four, it no longer included a cover, and it became a weekly publication. In the inaugural weekly issue, the editors explained the motivation behind the change: “To sustain the intimate and helpful relations that our Alumni and College should stress we feel that a weekly news publication is the best possible medium. [...] It is the purpose of the Staff to cover all College and Student Association activities in a very live way, reporting athletic contests in brief snappy articles, and giving members of the Alumni Associations space for contributions and newsy items.” During October 1917, in acknowledgement of the limited resources and significantly smaller student body caused by the United States’ involvement in World War I, the “The Springfield Student” ceased its weekly publication and instead published a few pages each month in the “The Association Seminar.” Two years later, October 1919, “The Springfield Student” resumed weekly publication. In this first issue, the editors wrote that they wanted to re-establish the newspaper “as the mouthpiece or spokesman of the student body.