Centennial

To commemorate The Santa Clara’s 100th anniversary, our editorial board has selected stories, comics and advertisements from the newspaper archives to republish throughout the remainder of the year.

Our deep-dive into the archives gave us a unique perspective on Santa Clara’s history. At times, we were stunned by how much campus life has changed in the century since our newspaper was founded (a classified ad from 1978 advertises a room available for $92.50/month!).

But more often, it was sobering to see our community’s most pressing cultural issues reflected in decades-old news coverage. Articles that mention sexual violence came up time and time again, as did stories about social issues that have long affected students of color on campus.

Finally, coverage of national crises felt particularly pertinent given our contemporary struggle to make sense of higher education amid a global pandemic. An article from September 1942 describes the university’s struggle to maintain a sense of normal college life in the midst of the nation’s all-out war effort.

We hope this growing collection will inspire our campus community to reflect on the progress we’ve made — and perhaps more importantly, the progress that is yet to come. With ink-stained fingers, we present to you university history through the eyes of The Santa Clara.

— Carolyn Kuimelis, Editor-in-Chief 2021