Today, The Sophian is Smith’s only student newspaper, read and appreciated by many online and through print. However, unbeknownst to many, its start in 1952 was met with more controversy than celebration.
Smith’s first weekly newspaper appeared in the spring of 1911, known as the Smith College Weekly. The original staff stated in their first issue “the Weekly ought to help to hold the college together.” They further explained that large communities — like college campuses — tend to separate into smaller groups, the activities of each known only to its members. The paper was to serve as a common place of discussion, but functionally served as a message board for clubs and events.
The Weekly only grew from there, beginning to feature coverage of guest lecturers, opinion pieces and advertisements for local shops and restaurants. By 1940, the editors decided to switch from a weekly to semi-weekly release, convinced of Smith’s ability to keep up with the newspapers of colleges like Vassar and Amherst which published more than once a week.
With this development, the Weekly required a new name. After much discussion and frustration, editors settled on Smith College Associated News, SCAN for short. In the first issue under this name, the staff wrote “SCAN will be a livelier, more readable paper, and should add greatly to the enjoyment and stimulation of the entire student body.”
The SCAN was a success and cherished by its staff. The first issue even featured a cartoon in which The Weekly is depicted as the new father of twin SCAN issues.
However, trouble arose in February of 1948 in the form of a rival newspaper: The Current. The founder, who had previously been news editor of the SCAN, wrote in the first issue, “We believe the principle of two newspapers is advantageous in producing a high quality of journalism through competition; in providing more than one editorial opinion on a single subject; in furnishing increased opportunity for student participation in campus publications.”
The SCAN did not directly respond to this new competitor, but it did feature a notice of tryouts in the issue directly following the Current’s debut, stating “SCAN not only needs you, they want you!”
It was a friendly competition — both papers were comparable in regards to quality of journalism and popularity among the student body, but they existed as two completely separate entities. That is, until 1952 when the College Treasurer “announced that ‘two newspapers is a luxury that Smith College can’t afford.’”
The two papers were required to merge into one: a decree not taken lightly.
The SCAN announced the news in an obituary-like style in the final issue: “May 8, 1952 at 10:15 the Smith College Associated News passed away.” According to the mournful article, “traditional rites were held in the SCAN office […] as members of the staff, friends and neighbors […] held a wake to pay their respects to the remains.”
The paper was again personified in a cartoon in which the SCAN and The Current are depicted as new parents looking over the yet unnamed heir.
The Current reacted in an even greater melodramatic manner, the announcement article stating, “When we heard about a merger we bristled like a new nylon toothbrush, we yowled like a wounded jaguar, we bludgeoned, we bullied, we blustered.” The staff eventually came to the final stage of grief — acceptance — and finished off the article, “and thus we part with Current – because she’s dead, y’know.”
After the SCAN’s 40 year reign and The Current’s strong five-year start, the two papers were laid to rest, but in their place rose The Sophian. The name was coined by physics professor William T. Scott, who entered the naming contest because “he thought he might be able to win the free subscription and the prize […] for his wife.” The name pays tribute to Smith College founder Sophia Smith.
The Sophian has remained strong since, with weekly issues going digital in 2015 and maintaining physical monthly editions. “What, then, is to be the result?” the first editor — Katherine L. Buell, class of 1911 — wondered, “time alone can settle that question.” And, after over 100 years, the legacy of Smith’s student publication lives on.
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