History
The oldest alumni magazine in the United States is Wayland Academy's ''Greetings'', founded in 1882. Still published today, ''Greetings'' was initially mailed to Baptist families throughout Wisconsin, but by the July 1888 issue was devoted to "give former students a picture of present Wayland life and to furnish information regarding those who have once been its students." The oldest known university alumni magazine is'' Yale Alumni Magazine'', founded in 1891. Chartered in 1636, Harvard University—the oldest university in the U.S.--established an official alumni association in 1840 but did not publish the ''Harvard Bulletin'' until 1898. Seven years earlier, Yale University began publishing a weekly alumni publication, which has been credited as the first such periodical that dealt solely with college or university alumni matters. In 1894, Princeton University started producing the ''Alumni Princetonian'' in the Saturday edition of the student newspaper. The College of Wooster, however, has been credited as the first institution to publish an alumni magazine-the ''Alumni Bulletin''-in 1886.Role of Alumni Magazines
"The role of college and university magazines is to inform, interpret, interest, and at times to inspire." Over the years, the role of these magazines has evolved from serving solely as house organs of college and university administrations to independent journalistic voices that report about campus life, even if the stories may negatively portray the university that sponsors the publication. Alumni magazines generally report to different university departments. "Most of the magazines receive some support from gifts, the college and alumni. Some editors report to the alumni association, while other report to the offices of alumni relations or development."Readership
Although there are several thousand college and university alumni magazines, no comprehensive listing of these publications has been published. In 2013, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) published a study on some alumni magazine readers. Some of their findings from 252 participating institutions: * "Readers of all ages prefer print magazines, and, secondly, a combination of print and online" * 45% of respondents acquire information from their alma mater; 35% from emails from institution * 17% spend 60 minutes or more reading the magazine; 40% spend 30–59 minutes; 31% 10–29 minutes * 86% strongly agree or just agree that the magazine strengthens their personal connection to the institution * 39% saved magazine article; 34% recommended school to students; 16% submitted "Class Notes" * Magazine credibility as a source of information about the institution: 28% "consistently portrays the institution accurately and objectively; 39% "contains some 'spin' but is generally accurate and objective; 18% usually portrays the institution only in a positive light; 3% is "not a good source of objective information." ''Ivy League Magazine Network'' (Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Yale) conducts surveys of its member institutions. The 2019 Media Kit published the following findings about the alumni readers of these magazines: * 76% said it is the "primary way I stay connected to my school". * 89% "took action as a result of seeing an article or ad." * 73% "read it as soon as it arrives in my mailbox." * The total circulation of the nine alumni magazines is 1,300,908Controversies
* In September 2015, the editors of the Cornell Alumni magazine apologized for a cover photograph which featured a split-page photograph of four white students and on the other side a color photograph of four Asian students. The cover caption: "Collegetown is changing fast. Is that a good thing?" Sophie Sidhu, associate dean and director of the Asian and Asian American Center was disturbed by the cover. "While I believe that this was a poor editorial choice and not intentionally racist or malicious, it inadvertently sends a hurtful message that is neither accepted nor supported by Cornell." *In November 2011, the national media reported that Jerry Sandusky the assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University perpetrated multiple child molestation incidents, the ''Penn Stater'' alumni magazine was in a quandary about how to report on this notorious crime which so adversely affected the entire university community *In 1991, when the editor of the University of Idaho alumni magazine wrote an article for that publication on Philadelphia's homeless population, his piece unleashed a controversy about the mission of alumni magazines. In response, the Assistant Director of the University of Idaho Foundation, wrote that the "purpose of the magazine, as made explicit by its title, ''Idaho the University'' is to report the research, scholarship, teaching and contributions by the faculty, staff, and students of the University of Idaho to the State of Idaho and alumni and friends of this institution . . . We have no ambition to be a national magazine or to discuss current literary, historical, sociological, economic or scientific matters not pertinent to what is going on at the University of Idaho or in the State of Idaho." * In 1982, Dartmouth President David T. McLaughlin placed Dennis A. Dinan, editor of the ''Dartmouth Alumni Magazine'', on probation if he didn't publish more positive stories about the College. Dinan, who formerly worked at ''American Heritage'', recalled that the president told him that the magazine had "gone out of its way" to portray the school in a negative light. The editor decided that the prospect of probation was 'intolerable' and resigned his position on December 31, 1982.Awards for Excellence
The Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year award, which bears the name of a former editor of the University of California at Berkeley's alumni monthly, helped initiate the award in 1943 which is the highest award given to alumni magazine editors. The first awards focusing on editorial excellence and achievement by alumni magazines were awarded by the American Alumni Council in 1929. More than 100 magazines competed for awards recognizing best editorial and best story on the achievement of an alumnus, among other topics. ''California Monthly''—the predecessor publication to ''California'', the alumni publication of the University of California, Berkeley—took home top honors for articles about alumni. Robert Sibley was the editor of the winning publication.Recent Award Recipients
* 2020 ''LMU'' Magazine, Joseph Wakelee-Lynch, editor *2019 ''Wake Forest Magazine'', Maria Henson, editor * 2018 ''HBS Alumni Bulletin'', Tom Witkowski, editor *2017 ''TCNJ Magazine,'' Renee Olson, editor * 2016 ''UofTMed,'' Heidi Singer, editor * 2015 ''Johns Hopkins Magazine'', Dale Keiger, editor * 2014 ''Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin,'' Shawn Presley, editor * 2013 ''Harvard Medicine'', Harvard University, Ann Marie Menting, editor * 2012 ''University of Chicago Magazine'', Amy Puma, editor * 2011 ''Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin'', Shawn Presley, editor * 2010 ''CAM'', University of Cambridge, Mira Katbamna, editorList of alumni magazines
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References
{{reflist Academic terminology