Exciting news coming from the IU East Campus Archives. As part of IU’s Bicentennial project, after four years of digitizing and processing, all IU East student newspapers are now available online and are keyword searchable. With over 40 years of student newspapers, these documents provide insight into past events on campus and in the community, sports events, and student life. Students published the newspaper under several titles between 1973 and 2017, including The Pioneer Press (1973-1987), New Voice (1987-1995), The Pioneer (1995-1996), The Pioneer Press (1996-2008), The Howler (2008-2017).
Volume 1, No. 2 issue of the Pioneer Press. In the bottom right corner Janis Haines receives an award for naming student newspaper by Dr. James Hamm, Dean of Student Services.
The student newspaper at IU East was a student-run organization with a faculty advisor. It regularly called for students to join as reporters, editors, photographers, and managers. Although IU East was established in 1971, the student newspaper wasn’t formed until the spring of 1973. It began with a staff of seven, and the first task was to name the paper. A contest was held, and Janis Haines won with the name “The Pioneer Press,” earning an IU-East t-shirt and $10. The first issue was published on November 5, 1973. Initially, The Pioneer Press was funded by the IU East student senate and published by students. The opinions expressed in the paper were those of the individual staff members and did not necessarily reflect the views of the student body, administration, or faculty. Students and local businesses could also place classified ads in the paper.
Front cover of the Sept. 29, 1987 issue of New Voice.
In September 1987, the newspaper was renamed “The New Voice” to revitalize the publication and kickstart journalism at IU East, coinciding with the launch of the J290 Internship to Journalism class. The first issue of The New Voice introduced IU’s new president, Thomas Ehrlich, and IU East’s new chancellor, Charlie Nelms, both of whom began their leadership roles that year. Unlike The Pioneer Press, which primarily covered sports and IU East events, The New Voice featured more opinion pieces, comics, and letters to the editors.
September 11, 1995 top banner showing the new name “The Pioneer”
In the fall of 1995, the August 28th issue featured only a simple IU East logo on the front, along with a notice welcoming student to the fall semester and calling for a new name and design for the student newspaper. Like 1973, a contest was held to rename the paper, aiming to foster a sense of shared ownership among students. The winning name, “The Pioneer,” with the tagline “Illuminating the trail to 2000 and beyond,” was submitted by Debbie Kimbourgh and debuted on the September 11th, 1995 issue. This name change coincided with the appointment of a new chancellor, David Fulton. However, the name “The Pioneer” was short-lived, as it reverted to “The Pioneer Press” the following school year, remaining so until 2008.
October-November 2012 issue highlighting 2012 Homecoming.
In 2007 and 2008, IU East underwent significant changes, restructuring its curriculum and updating its look and priorities under the leadership of Chancellor Nassar Paydar. During this period, IU East also introduced a new mascot, the Red Wolves. Consequently, in the fall of 2008, the student newspaper was renamed “The Howler,” with its first issue of the howler being released in August 2008. “The Howler” was a student-written newspaper managed by the IU East Marketing department, rather than being an independent student organization. It was the first to feature articles both in print and online. Additionally, unlike previous years when it was published biweekly, “The Howler” was issued monthly or bi-monthly. The Howler ceased production in October 2017.
Have an archives question? Reach out to Campus Archivist Jesse Whitton at jewhitto@iu.edu. You can learn more about the IU East Archives collections at https://iue.libguides.com/iuearchives. You never know what you will find in our collection!