First Year (2024-2025)
(NOTE: Many notable articles in the paper’s history are linked in the section below. Please note that these links take you to the article’s page on the current website, which was developed after the articles were published. As such, links followed here will not show the articles in their original presentation. To see the articles in their original presentation, find the relevant issue in the print archive)
The Hampshire Leapfrog was founded by Blaise Paine F23 in late August 2024 as simply “Leapfrog Student Newspaper” (no ‘the’) and put its first issue to print on September 4. In a note from the editor titled “A new student newspaper for Hampshire College,” Paine cited a lack of a central method of on-campus communication as the inspiration for starting the paper. The paper published a print issue every two weeks, printing its last issue for the semester on November 1st.
Leapfrog published its first “COVID Weather Report” in its first issue, a column that would be present in every print issue after, eventually becoming the “Pandemic Weather Report.” Its first crossword puzzle and first comic came in Volume 1, Issue 3 on October 4.
Leapfrog printed its first State of the Paper page on October 18 in Volume 1 Issue 4, launching the first iteration of its website and Instagram page, announcing print delivery direct to mods, mailboxes, and offices, as well as issuing its first financial report.
Leapfrog’s first State of the Paper page also announced that on October 11, it had submitted to become an official student organization. Leapfrog was officially recognized as a student organization on October 30, with Editor-in-Chief Blaise Paine F23, Ryan Nivus F23, and Kenzie Doherty S23 as first, second, and third signer respectively.
Volume 1, Issue 5, released on November 1, saw the first article retracted by the paper. “SJP holds walkout for Palestine“, printed in Issue 4, was retracted by the paper following complaints about the way the article used anonymous posts as a source of student opinion. The retraction was paired with a statement and apology from the editor-in-chief and author of the article, as well as a rewritten article on the same event. This led to the creation of the article review policy, where 3 people who were not involved in the writing of an article have to read and approve it before it goes to print.
In December, Editor-in-Chief Blaise Paine completed a research paper on the history of student newspapers at Hampshire College.
Going into the spring 2025 semester, the paper’s output reduced to two issues due to time constraints. However, this resulted in expanded use of the paper’s Instagram to provide advertising for student events and projects outside the limited print schedule of the paper.
Volume 2, Issue 1, released on February 28, 2025, featured the first opinion piece written by an alum of the college, as well as an interview with out-going College President Ed Wingenbach.
Volume 2, Issue 2, released on April 25, marked the first time an issue had as much material written by staff other than the editor as it did material written by the editor.
Going into the paper’s first summer, the paper began reaching out to faculty in order to secure an advisor, submitted many of its materials for archival in the CFF/QCAC Archive, officially rebranded to The Hampshire Leapfrog, and began work on the revamped website as part of a focus shift into digital publication.
(The above section was compiled and written by Blaise Paine F23 in May 2025)