upholstered couch carried from the Daily
Orange’s old office, now a parking lot.
College publications occasionally make
national news while chronicling the rhythms
of campus life, as happened this fall when
Arizona State University’s student newspaper
had a scoop on the resignation of Kurt Volker,
U.S. envoy to the Ukraine. Volker runs Arizona
State’s McCain Institute.
The Daily Orange in 2018 first posted video of
racist and sexist comments made at a Syracuse
fraternity, leading to embarrassing headlines for
the university across the country. Robertson’s
managing editor, Catherine Leffert, sat on the
floor at a campus meeting as that story swirled,
tapping out updates on her mobile phone, and
slept on the office couch in two-hour intervals.
The fraternity was suspended.
Journalists of all ages understand the
adrenaline rush.
“Seeing the layoffs and seeing newsroom
cutbacks is really disheartening,” Leffert said. “But
what keeps me wanting to be a journalist and
wanting to do it here is seeing the effect that the
D.O. has. It’s really cool and exciting.”
Few college publications have shut down the
way local newspapers in towns and cities across
the country have, said Chris Evans, president of
the College Media Association and adviser to
the University of Vermont newspaper. Many are
supported by student fees and pay their staff
members little if anything.
Thirty-five percent of school papers say they
have reduced the frequency of print issues
to save money, according to a CMA survey
taken earlier this year. Five percent have gone
online-only, as the University of Maryland’s