Last week, both the Trinitonian and Mirage presented their budget proposals to SGA for the 2025-2026 school year. Though I only stayed for the presentation and Q&A portion of Mirage’s presentation, the questions made me nervous for them. Senators seemed hesitant about fully funding them, especially because of their readership, and I feel the need to remind both students and senators of the importance of Mirage.
During the speech, Fredric Marmolejo, the incoming managing editor of Mirage, asked SGA to fund a variety of things: printing yearbooks, computers for editing, cameras for photographers and a table to replace a two-legged one propped up by a handful of cardboard boxes.
To me, all of these seemed reasonable. I’ve seen Mirage staff use our computers, talk about their inability to get cameras for their photographers and struggle to have meetings around their one broken table. As for readership, the current executives joined Mirage after a litany of issues from last year, and I’ve seen them fight tooth and nail to bring the yearbook back to its glory.
From the Q&A, though, I gathered that senators were wary to fund three computers for the Mirage, and they questioned the extent of the student body’s engagement with the yearbook. Some SGA members suggested that Mirage members should just use cameras from the communication department and computers in the newsroom, but I want to emphasize that they are an independent organization. They should be able to function independently.
Though I understand that the Student Activity Fee has limited money and that it can be good to collaborate for resources, Mirage shouldn’t be searching for a space. They shouldn’t have to be nomads. They have a room, and they should be able to have meetings and lay out their pages in their own space.
As for cutting the number of yearbooks printed, Mirage needs physical yearbooks to sell the yearbook. People need to know what it looks like and what it covers. Without being able to show the book, people won’t buy it. Beyond that, if they had more resources — like their own computers and cameras — Mirage would be able to improve the yearbook even more. They’d be able to spend more time on marketing rather than searching for a camera a photographer can use.
I know readership isn’t SGA’s problem, but that brings me to my next point. Students should be buying and reading the yearbook. We take so much pride in being Trinity students. We boast about the community that Trinity has, so why wouldn’t we want to see it all together? Mirage displays all of the work we’ve done at Trinity. It showcases the smaller clubs — like the Dinosaur Club in 2014 — and allows us to remember them and, maybe, even bring them back. It explains how we’ve progressed as a university from year to year. It’s a historical record, and we should want to look back on our time here. You’ll see yourself, and you may even discover something new.
I know I have some bias here. Mirage is the Trinitonian’s sister publication, and as someone who works in journalism, of course I’m going to find value in the yearbook. However, as someone who works right next door to them, I have an inside look into the Mirage. I’ve seen the amount of work that goes into it; I’ve seen how they’ve struggled with their lack of resources.
I know none of these decisions are final, and SGA has not stated that they will cut the computers or cameras or the table. However, before SGA decides on university-sponsored organization budgets next Wednesday, I ask senators to consider the importance of the yearbook. I ask them to understand that Mirage needs yearbooks to sell yearbooks and that having their own equipment is imperative to improving the yearbook — and in turn, improving readership.
As for the rest of the student body, faculty, staff and administration: Remember the importance of having a yearbook. Get your photos taken next year, and next week, when Mirage is tabling, buy one. It’s the documentation of our time at Trinity; it’s a marker of our history. It archives our clubs, our athletic teams’ victories — everything we’ve accomplished at the end of each year. You should be a part of that history, and you should get to see it.
