''The Miscellany News'' (known colloquially as ''The Misc'') is the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

. Established in 1866, it is one of the oldest student newspapers in the country. The paper is distributed every Thursday during Vassar's academic year to locations across the College's campus, including dormitories, dining and athletic facilities, and communal areas. The paper accepts contributions from all members of the college community—students, administrators, faculty, staff, alumnae/i and trustees—and has a regular staff of roughly 40 to 50 student editors, reporters, photojournalists, multimedia correspondents and designers. In addition to its print publication, the staff also publishes articles on its website.

History

''The Miscellany News'' was first published under the name ''Vassariana'' on June 27, 1866. The four-page long issue was meant to be a retrospective of the College's first year, more of a yearbook than the student newspaper which it would become. "Now we lay down the editorial pen," read the conclusion of the paper's first editorial, "believing it will be taken up by those who will carry on the work we have begun; who, although the foundations are of a rough stone, will build above with polished marble, and who will maintain the ''Vassariana'' in the front ranks of the college papers in the land." The paper—one of the first student organizations at Vassar—did indeed grow to be the publication for which the charter editors had hoped. By 1872, the paper was renamed the ''Vassar Miscellany'', as it was originally meant to be a mix—or ''miscellanea''—of reporting, essays and poems. Though in its first years the paper published mostly the latter two genres, by the 1890s— with further funding for student organizations from new President of the College James Monroe Taylor—the ''Miscellany'' adjusted its focus to journalism. The paper made this transition complete on February 6, 1914, with the historic publication of its first issue as a weekly paper. The newspaper's 150-year history is chronicled in the book ''Covering the Campus: A History of the Miscellany News at Vassar College'', written by Brian Farkas, a member of the Class of 2010 and Editor-in-Chief of its 142nd Volume. The book begins with a foreword by

Catharine Bond Hill Catharine "Cappy" Bond Hill is the former president of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY. She began in 2006, after former president Frances D. Fergusson retired. Before coming to Vassar, Hill was provost at Williams College. In September 20 ...

, the College's 10th President.

Modern ''Miscellany''

Overview

Today, ''The Miscellany News'' continues in the tradition started by the editors of 1914, publishing every Thursday morning of Vassar's academic year. The paper is typically 16 pages long each week and consists of six sections—News, Features, Opinions, Humor, Arts and Sports—which each contain innovative and professionally reported pieces concerning issues of interest on and off campus. The paper's staff consists entirely of Vassar students. Though roughly 40 undergraduates contribute to each issue of the ''Miscellany'', Editorial Board members work most closely with the paper, developing story ideas, assigning articles and helping to shape the finished product; in addition to directing the daily operations of the paper, the Editor-in-Chief and the Upper Executive Board work to guide the overall direction of the news organization.

Online

Two years after it received its first e-mail address, ''The Miscellany News'' went online in 1996. Today—after establishing its own domain independent from the

Web site in the summer of 2008—the ''Miscellany'' updates its with online articles. In the fall of 2009, the paper announced the launch of five blogs, which would complement its regular online and print content. While the print publication has a regular circulation of 800 copies, the Web site receives over 14,000

page impression In web analytics and website management, a pageview or page view, abbreviated in business to PV and occasionally called page impression, is a request to load a single HTML file (web page) of an Internet site. On the World Wide Web, a page request ...

s each week.

Editors-in-chief

Notable alumni

Many professional journalists, writers and politicians started at ''The Miscellany News'', including: *

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...

'17, American lyrical poet and playwright, first woman to receive the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

. *

Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Awar ...

'33, American poet and writer, was the

Poet Laureate of the United States A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writt ...

from 1949 to 1950 and a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

winner in 1956 *

Mary Therese McCarthy Mary Therese McCarthy (June 21, 1912 – October 25, 1989) was an American novelist, critic and political activist, best known for her novel ''The Group'', her marriage to critic Edmund Wilson, and her storied feud with playwright Lillian Hellm ...

'33, American author, critic and political activist *

Rick Lazio Enrico Anthony Lazio (; born March 13, 1958) is an American attorney and former four-term United States House of Representatives, U.S. Representative from the State of New York. A Long Island native, Lazio became well-known during his bid for Uni ...

'80, former

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

(R) from the State of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and former Republican nominee for

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and candidate for

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor ...

Neil Strauss Neil Darrow Strauss (born March 9, 1969), also known by the pen names Style and Chris Powles, is an American author and journalist. His book ''The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'', describes his experiences in the seducti ...

'91, American author and journalist, best known for his best-selling work '' The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists'' *

Alexandra Berzon Alexandra Berzon (born 1979) is an American investigative reporter for ''The New York Times''. She previously wrote for ProPublica and ''The Wall Street Journal''. Her 2008 series of investigative stories about the deaths of construction workers o ...

'01, won the

for her work with the ''

Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays from 1990 to 2005 and is now ...

'' and currently works at ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miscellanynews Vassar College Student newspapers published in New York (state)