The Daily Athenaeum

The Daily Athenaeum is the official student newspaper at West Virginia University. Founded in 1887, the paper draws students from all disciplines to contribute original content for publication. It is editorially independent from the university, and also does not have a faculty adviser. The DA is distributed at various locations on campus, as well as around Morgantown, West Virginia, in restaurants and businesses. Content is also available online via its website. News, Sports and special features reported in the DA have regularly been picked up and covered in many national newspapers as well as network news organizations.

Daily Athenaeum
TypeTwo times a week newspaper, online content updated daily
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)West Virginia University
PublisherWVU Student Media
Editor-in-chiefJared Serre
Managing editorsCole McClanahan; Pat Orsagos, digital
Founded1887
HeadquartersMorgantown, WV, United States
ISSN0011-5371
WebsiteThe Daily Athenaeum
Free online archivesIssuu Archive

The DA's offices are located at 284 Prospect Street, across the street from Arnold Hall on the Downtown campus. The DA publishes two days a week, Monday and Thursday, throughout the school year, as well updating content every day online. The primary sections of the paper are news, opinion, culture and sports.

History

The Athenaeum (Athe-a-nay-um) has a long tradition of serving the students, faculty, and staff of West Virginia University.

The publication began in 1887 as a literary magazine when classics were popular in college study, hence the name which refers to the forum in ancient Athens where oratory and debate took place.[1] The Athenaeum celebrated its centennial in 1987 with the publication of a special edition.

Soon after journalism instruction began at WVU in the 1920s, the journalism faculty took over the supervision of the Athenaeum, utilizing it as a laboratory newspaper to help teach writing, editing and advertising. The publication took on the appearance of a newspaper and became a weekly. It assumed daily status (five days a week) in 1933.[2]

Over the years, the Athenaeum has improved and grew larger, and hundreds of journalism students worked as reporters and editors. Today the Athenaeum is no longer part of the School of Journalism, as it became completely independent in 1970.

In May 1994, The Daily Athenaeum moved into a new facility located at 284 Prospect Street. A special Building Fee funded construction of this facility.

In May 2016, The Daily Athenaeum announced that it would stop printing Monday through Friday, instead opting to print only Monday, Wednesday and Friday.[3] The newspaper also switched from a broadsheet to a tab layout. This announcement came not long after WVU hired Adell Crowe to head up student media at the school. In this role, she will oversee the student newspaper and student-run radio station U92.[4]

Rankings and Reviews

The Daily Athenaeum has consistently been ranked as one of the best college newspapers in the United States and for the last 7 out of 10 years the DA has been ranked by the Princeton Review as one of the Top 20 Best College Newspapers beginning in 2005 as the 10th-best college newspaper in the United States, 15th in 2006, 8th in 2007, 8th in 2008, 11th in 2009, 11th in 2010, and 8th in 2014.

In 2010, Society of Professional Journalists ranked The DA the 3rd best student publication in the United States.

Staff

The Daily Athenaeum has generally been led by two top editors, the editor-in-chief and managing editor. Appointments to these positions are made by a committee of journalism professors at the school, full-time staff members at the newspaper and students. The appointments generally last one academic year. The following is the most recent history of the newspaper's leadership team.

Year Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Digital Managing Editor
2020-2021 Jared Serre Cole McClanahan Pat Orsagos
2019-2020 Douglas Soule Hannah Williams
2018-2019 Douglas Soule Ali Barrett - First Semester / Hannah Williams - Second Semester
2017-2018 None Erin Drummond and Chris Jackson and Adrianne Uphold
2016-2017 Caity Coyne Jennifer Gardner
2015-2016 Madison Fleck David Schlake
2014-2015 Jacob Bojesson Jake Jarvis
2013-2014 Carlee Lammers Celeste Lantz
2012-2013 Lydia Nuzum Cody Schuler
2011-2012 Erin Fitzwilliams John Terry
2010-2011 Candace Nelson Melanie Hoffman

Notable alumni
  • Ken Ward, Jr., environmental reporter
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See also

References
  1. "e-WV | West Virginia University". www.wvencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  2. "e-WV | West Virginia University". www.wvencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  3. "WVU student newspaper to stop printing daily". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  4. "Veteran journalist named director of student media at West Virginia University". WVUToday. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
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