editorial

When I took the position of managing editor last December, I did not picture myself knee-deep in newspapers from over four years ago with ink stains all over my hands. But that’s just the nature of the job, I guess. One of my biggest goals this semester was to breathe some life back into the newsroom — if you’ve been down there, you know why. To do that, though, I had to tackle the two office spaces in the very back corner, which had been completely overrun with all the extra issues from the past few years. In sorting through all those papers, I uncovered some unexpected treasures, and not just a flask that says “Better than therapy.”

What I love most about working for the Trinitonian is the product, the actual physical edition that comes out every week (though the people are great, too). Most readers flip through it pretty quickly, maybe do the crossword and then set it down or recycle it (hopefully). But five or ten years from now, I bet you there’ll be someone who finds a copy of this week’s issue down in the dingy old newsroom and reads each story to piece together just what life was like for a student of our time. That’s what a lot of my time has been spent doing this semester — thumbing through Trinitonians from 2020, 2015, 2010, even all the way back to 1962.

These papers were products of their time. I’ve read point/counterpoint columns about the Iraq War, news briefs about Al Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize and, of course, many, many pieces about the turbulent history of the Tiger’s Den pub. Seeing how Trinity has evolved over the years, right as I’m about to leave, has been bittersweet. I feel like I’ve gotten to know so much about the nuances of this campus, namely through the dynamics between administration and students. In the Trinitonians of our childhood, it was pretty common for the dean of students or the vice president of academic affairs to take out columns and address the whole of the student body directly, sharing their thoughts on whatever came to mind.

Our former Director of Residential Life and Dean of Students David Tuttle was a very frequent contributor to the Trinitonian, writing a recurring column aptly titled “Dean’s List.” Tuttle covered a range of topics, from the struggles of academic pressure to the stereotypes surrounding fellow vegetarians. I was pleasantly surprised that someone in Tuttle’s position kept up with a part-time columnist gig, mainly because it was so refreshing to have some faculty investment in a student-run newspaper.

I know that the whole purpose of the Trinitonian is that students are the ones doing everything — keeping an ear out for stories, finding contacts to interview, writing the piece, making edits, putting the pages together, etc. On top of all of that, we’re charged with keeping the public informed of what happens on and off campus. But, as students, there’s only so much we’re aware of ourselves.

Faculty perspectives are valuable and can add more to our humble paper, in that they have seen a lot (or at least more than us) over the years at Trinity. Whether reminding us of past traditions, or encouraging more students to pursue leadership positions, there is so much potential for faculty and staff to get involved. Columns from all corners of campus could help provide transparency into processes like recycling, search or feedback committees, renovations related to the master plan and more.

Keeping students in the know is a hard job, especially when our issues only stay relevant for a short period of time after printing. A more communicative and open culture on our small campus could foster stronger connections between the student body, faculty and staff, especially with all the new faces in administrative positions.

My original hope for my newsroom cleanup was to catalog whatever we had from recent years and set it aside for future executives to reference, and I did that. In the process, though, I read hundreds of old papers, and I got to know my school better than I ever could’ve hoped. When I look back on this last semester, I’ll remember the feeling of ink on my fingers after hours of pouring over past issues. It’s bittersweet, looking back at how things used to be, and yet there are opportunities for all of us in the present as well. So, as a parting word of advice, I would implore faculty, staff and students to pick up a Trinitonian and add your two cents to an upcoming issue. You never know how your contributions may be remembered down the line.