Hi, I’m Blaise. I’m in my first year of Div II, and I think Hampshire College needs a student newspaper. So I’m making one. It’s called Leapfrog, you’re reading it right now. It was the first name that came to mind.
Hampshire has had a student newspaper for most of its history. The longest running student newspaper, The Climax, published its first edition on November 18th, 1971, less than a year after the first class arrived on campus. It operated until May 11th, 1981, and was resurrected periodically until 2015 when it finally shuttered for good. Until 2015, its regular absences were filled by other student newspapers. But as far as I can tell, Hampshire College has not had a regular student newspaper since it ended in 2015.
I think part of the reason that it’s so easy for administration to pull the wool over our eyes, why it’s so difficult for students to organize, is that the only source of news that every student has access to is the Daily Digest. And there isn’t one platform that every student can see. Sharing news via Instagram stories limits it to your social circle, YikYak doesn’t even exist for Android phones, most students either aren’t in the student Discord or aren’t active, and the only other student publication, The Omen, is a magazine.
So, here we are. A new student newspaper for Hampshire College.
How often this paper publishes and whether or not I stick with it at all depends entirely on how much time I have and how much material support I get.
To that end, if you are at all interested in being a writer, writing an op-ed, submitting a letter to the editor, writing a silly column or a comic strip, if you have a tip for a story, or want to advertise your club or event or GoFundMe or whatever consignment you’re selling at Mixed Nuts, please reach out. It would really be awesome if this can become a sustained fixture at Hampshire.
