Collegian Archives | The Collegian
Campus-wide humiliation was a rational — and weekly — fear for Hillsdale students of the mid-20th century.
“T’other day little Miss Rhea Horst took a tumble in front campus right in front of Dunne and Bradley. All present modestly turned the other way as Rhea got up and betook her blushing self off to a 1:30. It was a case of ‘when a slip becomes a social error.’”
This example from the Oct. 21, 1941 edition of The Collegian makes the specificity and no-holds-barred spirit of the newspaper’s many gossip columns evident.
Just as Hillsdale College has a long and distinguished history, so has its campus newspaper. Now the oldest college newspaper in Michigan, The Collegian has transformed to fit campus needs and — at times — provide contentious gossip and entertainment.
The Collegian sprung out of the original college newspaper, the Hillsdale Herald, which was first published in 1878. According to the Mossey Library archives, the Hillsdale Herald began as a student-run newspaper that focused much of its attention on college happenings — although it was unaffiliated with the college. Students held editing positions to coordinate reporting on the news of student organizations such as campus literary societies.
During the Hillsdale Herald’s brief run filled with poems, jokes, and updates on town and college happenings, it proved not much different than modern newspapers in content. Design and ads were notably different, however, with very few if any photos. Often advertisements took up entire pages, one of which from an edition from the late nineteenth century advertised the college itself as: “THOROUGH! CHRISTIAN! CHEAP!”
When the Hillsdale College Publishing Association took control of the Hillsdale Herald in April of 1880, it became the official newspaper of the college. The college changed the name to Hillsdale College Herald in 1884 and then to The Collegian in 1893.
The range of topics has changed over time. During World War I, The Collegian had a war column and war editor, in addition to the retired alumni and literary editors. Positions such as editor-in-chief and associate editor, however, have persisted since the newspaper’s inception.
The Collegian took a notable turn toward its more scandalous beginning in the ’30s. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the campus news source went through a cycle of controversial periods in which student writers upset enough students for each gossip columns’ eventual retirement. These changes, however, only lasted a generation until the next batch of students came in and a new era of gossip began. The only difference was the title.
For example, in the late ’30s and ’40s, the gossip column, The Kitty, was all the rave until it wasn’t. Too many students took offense to the mighty Kitty pawing into everyone’s business. A look into the Dec. 12, 1939 edition of The Collegian reveals the column’s tendency toward personal attacks.
“Crashers Spike Martin and Doc Sandford were conspicuously present at the Delt Sig formal. —The latest news from Ann Arbor is that Jeanine Barrett has excepted [sic] a Beta pin.”
Grammar and spelling in The Kitty era clearly left something to be desired. Every dog has its day, though. Other columns that would come to see their hay day pass included Wandering Around Campus, Fashion Wise, Hall and Campus, The Agony Column, Thru the Keyhole, Green Hat Gossip, Campus Scene, and Campus Capers.
Fast forward to the ’80s, during which time students read all the details concerning the campus party scene in The Collegian. Writers apparently held back few, if any, of the sordid details.
According to the Nov. 3, 1983 edition of The Collegian, the neighbors around the Tau Kappa Epsilon house said, “‘We don’t expect them to be church mice, but we want them to be responsible.’ The neighbor cited noise of people leaving weekend parties as the most offensive transgression of the TKEs…Another neighbor commented that it isn’t the members of the house who park on his lawn, but ‘the whole campus’ which attends the TKE social functions.”
Sometime in the ’90s The Collegian became recognizable as the campus newspaper students and faculty know today. After attending Hillsdale, Chairman and Associate Professor of Physics Paul T. Hosmer ’99 said he thinks the paper hasn’t changed much from his days as a student until now.
“It seems to me that The Collegian back then was somewhat similar to The Collegian now: widely read, often controversial, sometimes intentionally. Big differences: back then it was not in color and was not on the internet. Why? Probably because the internet barely existed at the time. I think color photography did exist back then, but my memory is a little vague on that point,” Hosmer said.
That brings the paper to all it is today. According to several students, the paper is much more focused on college-sanctioned student activities. Although its history comes as a shock to many, some students said it also seems fitting with the reputation for a more controversial campus.
“It’s a source of news for all corners of campus, whether it be sports, opinions from other students, renovations on campus, and stuff about professors. I guess I assumed it was always that way,” sophomore and Collegian reader Mia Young said. “I’m partially not surprised because I heard it was wild back then.”
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March 25, 2021 at 08:00PM
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The Collegian: Heralding Truth, Gossip, and Barrett's Beta pin - Hillsdale Collegian
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