Over the past week, I must have heard several different people say my article on earthworms was a “nice change of pace.”
I sat back and wondered how my article was different from my previous work.
Among a plethora of serious content, The Witmarsum has always had the ability to connect with not only students, but to everyone who has had the chance to read it.
Reading back in the much older editions of The Witmarsum (before the restoration in 2016), I found a couple of different weekly sections such as “Beaver Gnawings” and “The Way of The Campus.”
However, my favorite section was called “Around the Horn.”
The first edition of this weekly segment came out Sept. 24, 1937.
Reading through these editions, you will find different poems, jokes, happenings around campus, juicy gossip and many other entertaining subjects.
So, how exactly does this type of writing fit into The Witmarsum today?
Connecting students.
Around the Horn gave students even more opportunities to connect with each other, faculty, staff and anyone else who read The Witmarsum.
I was able to figure out why my article on earthworms was significantly different than my previous articles.
This comedic type of writing has been missing in recent history of The Witmarsum, which is not a fault on any of the writers. As The Wit has started to regain its focus on legitimate journalism, it’s important that we also provide content that builds community and includes softer news values as well.
There needs to be a balance—news cannot simply be all fun and games. For news to be news, it has to reflect and embody certain values beyond novelty or drama. There needs to be a balance between serious and light-hearted content. You can’t always have fun and games, but you also can’t have too much serious content, as it will overflood your audience with less positivity.
The Bluffton news should be Bluffton oriented. Without guidelines or supervision, news can turn into a tabloid with stories that have nothing in common with the people who are reading your articles.
With losing weekly sections like Around the Horn, I believe Bluffton University has lost a big piece of student connection.
One of Bluffton’s four enduring values is community.
In a community of not only students but also athletes, musicians, professors, coaches, presidents, chefs, custodians and more, we have become slightly disconnected.
I am in no way saying that bringing back a weekly segment for The Witmarsum will solve our problem of disconnection, but I am proposing that it would be a great start!
So, starting next week, I would like to bring back the weekly segment called “Around the Horn.”
Everyone has a voice that deserves to be heard. YOUR voice deserves to be heard.
If you have an event that you would like to be announced, a poem you want to share, a topic to be addressed, a recommendation for a movie, a funny joke that’s appropriate, good advice, different historic pieces around campus that you would like to know more about, or anything in between, you should have the opportunity to feel comfortable enough to share your interests.
If this sounds like something that you would like to participate in, email me at mcccza@bluffton.edu.
Hope to see you Around the Horn soon.
