''The Fulcrum'' debuts
In 1942, The University of Ottawa's English Debating Society published the inaugural edition of their newsletter, entitled ''The Fulcrum''. The newsletter was supervised by Rev. Lorenzo Danis, OMI, and its first editor-in-chief was John Beahen. The premiere edition included as its mission statement the following: "''The Fulcrum'' is dedicated entirely to the interests of our students of today and yesterday." In its first year, ''The Fulcrum'' was funded almost entirely by alumni donations and published only 8 issues per year. Due to its conservative Catholic editorial policies, ''The Fulcrum'' was fairly non-controversial compared to its more outspoken counterpart, '' La Rotonde''. The inclusion of advertising starting in its second year allowed the paper some slight financial freedom and ''The Fulcrum'' continued in this manner until 1946, when it came under the supervision of the English Students' Association and the SFUO. In 1947, ''The Fulcrum'' became a member of theIn the 50s and 60s
In 1951, the SFUO (suffering from serious financial problems) proposed that ''The Fulcrum'' and '' La Rotonde'' be combined into one publication and renamed ''The Ottawa''. The proposal was rejected, but operations at the two papers were condensed into one workspace in the house the SFUO occupied at the time. Throughout the 1950s, '' La Rotonde'' and the University of Ottawa administration had a combative relationship, inciting theIn the 70s, 80s, and 90s
In 1970, both newspapers were re-instated and continued to publish regularly as services of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (which incorporated in 1969). The next three decades were quieter and both newspapers were able to achieve a stability on campus, buoyed by the receipt of a guaranteed student levy voted on in a referendum by U of O students. The relationship between the university administration and both newspapers gradually became more distant during this time, and (as the publisher of both papers) the SFUO began to step in to moderate and control content when the SFUO felt it was needed. However, the ability of the SFUO to pull any content they deemed questionable quickly lead to dissent on the part of both newspapers and questions of censorship arose. The SFUO stepped in several times during these decades to censor issues that were objectionable or could have been construed as libel, much to the chagrin of editors at both papers. Fueled by their lack of control over their publication and an increasing move towards autonomy in student newspapers across the country, editors at ''The Fulcrum'' began formulating plans to go "autonomous" as early as 1998, but many stalled attempts meant that they were not successful until many years later. It was during this time that ''The Fulcrum'' moved to offices located between University of Ottawa's Thompson Residence and Morriset Library (later occupied byIn the 21st century
In 1999, after several years of a rocky relationship with the Ottawa Gaming Club (who occupied the first floor of 631 King Edward Ave.) The Fulcrum was granted the first and second floor of the building as their new offices. It was also in 1999 that "The Fulcrum" began to make more use of digital technology, switching from more traditional layout techniques to computer layout, and switching over to digital photography, beginning with digital contributions by Steven Meece. Beginning in the 2003–2004 school year, the paper began referring to itself as University of Ottawa's ''Fulcrum'', rather than ''The Fulcrum'', on the cover. In the summer of 2004, recently elected editor-in-chief Mary Cummins and managing editor Marcus McCann once again looked into plans to become an autonomously incorporated organization. This push was spurred on by the SFUO attempting to pull the Summer 2004 issue of the ''Fulcrum'' for featuring a mug of beer and using the term "Frosh" (the SFUO had recently stopped using the term frosh in favour of welcome week and later 101 week due to negative connotations associated with the term). Aside from this, the separation was due to several reasons. The main reason being that the editorial board felt it was an inherent conflict of interest to be owned by the student government while attempting to write fair, unbiased, and often critical stories about them. The secondary reason was that as an autonomous corporation, the ''Fulcrum'' was able to directly control its own finances and spur further growth of the paper. After discussing the situation with then-president of the SFUO Philippe Laliberté, plans were made to begin the process. In October 2004, a letters patent was granted to "The Fulcrum Publishing Society", the corporation that would take over the governance of the ''Fulcrum'', and negotiations between the SFUO and the ''Fulcrum'' continued throughout the year. After approval by the SFUO's Board of Administration, ownership of the ''Fulcrum'' officially transferred to The Fulcrum Publishing Society on June 1, 2005. The Fulcrum Publishing society was set up to be governed by a ten-member board of directors made up of students, community members, Fulcrum staff, U of O faculty, and ''Fulcrum'' alumni. Ultimate responsibility for the governance and management of the corporation was left with the board while the president, who acted as the business manager, made decisions on a day-to-day basis. To avoid a similar conflict of interest, provisions were put into the corporate bylaws prohibiting the board from interfering in editorial content unless faced with possible legal action. After a turbulent first year, the ''Fulcrum'' settled into a financially stable position as an autonomous corporation. Recent changes to the governance structures of the Corporation have led to slight changes, such as the Business (now General) Manager no longer being permitted to hold a seat on the Board, and the roles of the corporation's executives being clarified. In 2014–15, the newspaper received a complete visual redesign including a new layout and logo.National defence ad boycott
On March 19, 2008, the Fulcrum held its Annual General Meeting, normally a fairly subdued event. However, the 2008 AGM saw a group of students mobilize to try to create an ad boycott for the purpose of stopping recruitment ads for theTransition to online
The ''Fulcrum'' transitioned to an online only news source for the 2019/2020 publication year. This completed the transition which saw the paper only publish one print paper a month for the 2018/2019 publication year.University of Ottawa's 2020 debate on academic freedom
On October 2, 2020, the Fulcrum published an article detailing the use of a racial slur by a University of Ottawa professor in an online classroom. The article and student outrage on social media led to the university temporarily suspending the professor sparking a nationwide debate on academic freedom at Canadian universities.Editorial board
Board of directors/general manager/executive director
Current board of directors
*President: Kalki Nagaratnam (Continuity Rep) *Vice-President: Brendan Keane (Staff Rep) *Secretary: Vacant *Chair: Samuel Coulavin (Community Rep) *Treasurer: Claire Liu (Community Rep) *Director: Mark Asfar (Community Rep) *Director: Keelan Buck (Staff Rep) *Director: Erik Chin (Student Rep) *Director: Emma Godmere (Fulcrum Alumna) *Director: Chaymaa Nadi (Student Rep) *Director: Amit Shanbhoug (Student Rep) *Ex-officio: Ludvica Boota (Executive Director) *Ex-officio: Jasmine McKnight (Co-Editor-in-Chief) *Ex-officio: Hailey Otten (Co-Editor-in-Chief)Presidents
*2021–Present: Kalki Nagaratnam *2019-2021: Justin Turcotte *2016-2019: Raghad Sheikh-Khalil *2015-2016: Mackenzie Gray *2014-2015: Keeton Wilcock *2013-2014: Kyle Hansford/Keeton Wilcock *2012-2013: Mercedes Mueller *2011-2012: Andrew Hawley *2010-2011: Scott Bedard *2009-2010: Nick Taylor-Vaisey *2008-2009: Ross Prusakowski *2006-2008: Rob Fishbook *2005-2006: Mary CumminsExecutive Directors/General Managers
* 2021–Present: Ludvica Boota * 2021: Justin Turcotte * 2020-2021: Dorian Ghosn * 2020: Rame Abdulkader * 2018-2020: Dorian Ghosn * 2016–2018: Lucas Ghosn * 2015-2016: Dayne Moyer * 2012-2015: Andrew Hawley * 2011-2012: Danielle Vicha * 2010-2011: David McClelland * 2009-2010: Frank Appleyard * 2008-2009: Ross Prusakowski * 2006-2008: Rob Fishbook * 2005-2006: Mary CumminsNotable alumni
* André Picard, Quebec Bureau Chief and health columnist for ''See also
*References
External links
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