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PRESS RELEASES
Vanderbilt Student Communications Launches InsideVandy.com
September 11, 2006
Vanderbilt Student Communications Creates New Online Media Division
March 28, 2006
INTRODUCTION
For Vanderbilt
students, the divisions of Vanderbilt Student Communications,
Inc. serve as laboratory, classroom, and professional experience
in the absence of an academic journalism or broadcasting department.
Hundreds of undergraduate, graduate and professional students
are involved each year as regular staff members or contributors.
In 2001-02, the divisions distributed more than 438,200 copies
of student publications, aired thousands of hours of music, news,
sports, interviews and entertainment on radio and television,
streamed information and audio to the world via numerous internet
sites, and covered hundreds of hours of campus activities in service
to the University community audience. One could argue that no
other student activity on this or any other campus has the capability
to regularly reach, positively impact, and serve a greater percentage
of the University population than the student media organizations.
The divisions
continue to successfully increase the size of their staffs, strive
to reflect the diversity of the campus population, and devote
attention to developing future student leaders. Both undergraduate
and graduate students are included as staff members and contributors
to VSC divisions. Extra effort is pledged to encourage graduate
and professional student involvement and to serve these students’
needs through content and distribution.
Many Vanderbilt
graduates who participated in VSC divisions have found that the
skills and experience gained working with student media led to
careers in commercial communications. Many alumni are working
in newspapers, magazines, and other publishing related jobs ranging
from The Tennessean to The New York Times, while others have gone
on to work in broadcasting from local radio to CNN.
A continuing
goal for VSC, Inc. is to increase the divisions’ level of
participation in national journalism associations and build a
larger network of resources. Significant progress made in this
area has helped students of each division gain new skills, helped
them keep up with national trends and technology, and has drawn
more favorable attention to Vanderbilt University, potentially
increasing the number of graduates who find success in media careers.
The information
included on this website is offered as an overview of Vanderbilt
Student Communications, Inc. It is hoped this information will
reflect that the contributions and accomplishments of VSC, Inc.
warrant a genuine sense of pride for Vanderbilt University.
THE MISSION
OF
VANDERBILT STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Vanderbilt
Student Communications, Inc. exists to provide the students and
other members of the Vanderbilt community specific services and
outcomes, primarily, (1) the provision of an environment that
fosters the development of students’ skills in leadership,
management, human relations, and fiscal responsibility in a unique
cocurricular setting that allows for high levels of participation
in daily-run, product-oriented organizations; (2) the provision
of realistic opportunities for students to learn and gain competency
in specialized mass communications skills ranging from writing,
editing, computer-aided design and production, advertising creation,
sales and accounting, to television and radio production, program
conception, and on-air participation; and (3) the provision to
the campus community of print and broadcast media serving as forums
for free expression, allowing the exchange of ideas, dissemination
of news, outlets for creative work, and vehicles for entertainment,
fulfilling a role critically essential to the health of a vibrant
university in a democratic society.
A BRIEF
HISTORY OF
VANDERBILT STUDENT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Student media
at Vanderbilt University have a history that is as rich and nearly
as old as the University itself. While the first student publications
debuted in the late 1800s, it wasn’t until the early 20th
century that attempts were made to organize the groups.
Earliest accounts
indicate that there was discussion of a Publications Board as
early as the fall of 1915, when those persons who advocated a
Student Council were collecting information about student governments
at other colleges and universities and learned that many campuses
had established Publications Boards. In 1916, a committee composed
of Professors Luck, Brown, Harris and Chancellor Kirkland submitted
a plan to the faculty which was in turn recommended to the Student
Council and approved by that body in the spring of 1917. It was
not until the winter of 1919 that the body really began to function
effectively.1
The Publications
Board, charged with the general oversight and supervision of college
publications, operated with a membership of faculty and student
representatives. The Publications Board remained relatively unchanged
until 1953, when Chancellor Branscomb ratified a new constitution
for the group. The new constitution differed from the original
Publications Board primarily in the composition of the Board,
and it provided greater detail as to the Board’s duties.
During the
1960s, the Vanderbilt campus mirrored the turbulent political
and social times found in U.S. society at large, thought the unrest
and political activism was somewhat less prominent than what was
happening at many other of the nation’s college campuses.
Also during this time, The Vanderbilt Hustler may have reached
its zenith in terms of general defiance and calls for reform.
"The
Board of Trust preferred to let administrators handle such touchy
issues as gay rights but could not at times restrain it’s
distaste for the Hustler. Small indiscretions worried the board
even before 1967. By then, the Hustler carried on a running battle
of ridicule and political hyperbole with the Banner, and subsequently
(alumnus, publisher, and VU Board member) James Stahlman frequently
led the board in its criticism."2
As a potential
solution to both the University’s increasing concern for
liability brought by the boundry-pushing student media, and student
journalists’ desire for greater autonomy to protect them
from real or perceived threats to expression, a proposal was extended
to incorporate the Publications Board. In September 1967, faculty
members Vereen Bell, Paul Elledge, David Nunnally, James Worley,
and Robin Fuller filed a charter of incorporation with the state
of Tennessee.
"The
corporation, Vanderbilt Student Communications, Inc., was formed
for the purpose of the operation, publication and dissemination
of student communication media at Vanderbilt University, including
but not limited to The Vanderbilt Hustler, The Commodore, Spectrum,
Prometheus, The Dirty We’Jun, Masquerader and radio station
WRVU."3 The corporation
was certified on Sept. 22, 1967.
On recommendation
of the Chancellor, the Executive Committee approved the incorporation
of the Student Publications Board under the title of Vanderbilt
Student Communications, Incorporated. The Senior Vice-Chancellor
said the Publications Board had been operating under a constitution
and by-laws adopted in 1952. University counsel, concerned that
Vanderbilt might find itself liable to suit, has advised incorporation.
The new by-laws of Vanderbilt Student Communications, Incorporated,
were also approved by the Executive Committee.4
1
Personal memo from Sidney Boutwell to Chancellor Alexander Heard,
Feb. 16, 1976.
2 Paul K. Conkin, Gone
with the Ivy: A Biography of Vanderbilt University (Knoxville,
TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1985)
3 State of Tennessee, Charter
of Incorporation, Vol. O-26, p. 2626 General Welfare, Tennessee
Secretary of State, 1967.
4 Executive Committee,
Vanderbilt University Board of Trust, Vol. 54, p. 153, June 25,
1968.
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