Celebrating 100 Years of the Setonian

Left: The Setonian’s first editor-in-chief, Helen Cronin Schmadel. Right: The Setonian’s current co-editors-in-chief, Haley Carnahan and Paige Parise.

In December 1919, The Setonian published its first-ever newspaper.

100 years later, the Setonian is still going strong.

The 2018-2019 academic year marked the 100th volume of the Setonian. Throughout the year, we have featured highlights from each decade of the Setonian’s newspapers from 1919 all the way up until 2019.

To wrap up the Setonian’s centennial year, we wanted to give readers a brief overview of our publication’s long history.

The very first issue of the Setonian was published in December 1919, one year after Seton Hill celebrated its first graduating class. Helen Cronin Schmadel took the lead as the Setonian’s first Editor-in-Chief. The Setonian’s first issue credited 20 staff members, including a censor. Today, the Setonian has a faculty advisor who helps ensure the publication runs smoothly, but the students make the decisions about what gets published.

Throughout the past 100 years, the Setonian has obviously undergone various changes and adapted. In addition to changes in writing style as journalism has evolved, the Setonian began including more and more photos and images as technology continued to evolve. The Setonian has also documented significant changes and events throughout SHU’s history, from the construction of Sullivan Hall in the 1920s to the celebration of SHU’s 100th graduating class in 2018.

After a drop in student interest, the Setonian almost dissolved its publication in the 1970s. Instead, the staff published few issues each year that decade, until there was a resurgence of student interest in the 1980s. Since then, the Setonian has been going strong.

The Setonian may have changed the way it lays out its print publication, but one thing that hasn’t changed is working together!

The very nature of publication began to change in the 2000s. In 2004, the Setonian launched its own website through the university and began publishing content online. As social media began to grow in popularity, the Setonian created pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Even the format of the Setonian has changed. The Setonian is no longer printed as a traditional newspaper, but transitioned to a magazine a few years ago. Despite this change in format, the Setonian is still the student voice of the Hill and strives to produce quality news articles and content abiding by the standards of journalism.

In the very first issue of the Setonian, the editors published the following:

“Running a college journal requires much patience and strenuous effort, and we are ready to furnish these in abundance; moreover, we are aware that our paper may now lack the journalistic polish which only experience can secure; but we shall welcome and try to profit by constructive criticism, and we hope that in a short time The Setonian will earn a place among college journals of the foremost rank.”

The original Setonian editors started this publication from nothing, with little experience themselves. However, they made up for any lack in experience with their enthusiasm and passion for writing, during a time before any type of journalism curriculum existed at SHU. We commend the first Setonian editors for their dedication to starting this publication, and to all the Setonian editors and staff members who helped maintain the 100-year tradition of documenting the history of SHU.

Here’s to the next 100 years!

Published By: Stephen Dumnich

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