By Hailey MacDonald, Editor-in-Chief
The student-run newspaper of Western New England University has been providing news for students, by students since 1951. 70 years later, in 2021, it’s interesting to look back at the progress that the newspaper has made through the years and also check out the current events that roamed the campus so long ago.
Put to press in October of 1951 was Western New England College’s first newspaper issue since their separation from Northeastern University on July 17, 1951. The front page of the rebranded newspaper, WNEC News, holds one of the most historic headlines in the history of our institution: Springfield Northeastern Becomes Western New England College. At the time, the Editor-in-Chief of WNEC News was Rose Riskalla of the class of 1952.
The front page of that issue also has some demographics regarding the make-up of the college. In 1951, 670 students were enrolled: 211 studied Accounting, 177 studied Management, 250 studied Engineering and Business, and 32 pursued degrees in Law.
In an issue released in January 1952, a front-page story claims that royal blue and gold were deemed the school’s colors due to the popular vote of a student poll.
Later, in an issue from October of 1955, the back page of the paper contains a write-up about the class of 1959. When they entered their fall semester of freshman year, they set a record of enrollment with 246 students — the largest incoming class since before World War II. This issue of WNEC News also reported that the college held a total of 672 students, only 35 of them being female.
A November 1958 issue of WNEC News shares photos of the campus’s first Wilbraham Road building, Emerson Hall, being constructed. The following year, a December 1959 issue states that the building was dedicated to Dr. Robert R. Emerson, who was then the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He was given a gold master key of the building as a gift during the dedication ceremony.The changes to the student-run newspaper of Western New England University over the years are apparent in every issue, and when past editions are brought back into light, the progress that the University has made throughout the last century is even more clear. Yet, there is one thing that hasn’t changed: The Westerner will always deliver news by the students, to the students of Western New England University.
