New ‘Chilhowean’ staff seeks to give the Maryville College tradition a ‘modern facelift’

The “Chilhowean,” Maryville College’s yearbook, has been a tradition at the college for over a hundred years. The MC archives have a copy of every “Chilhowean” that has been published since the college’s establishment. The “Chilhowean” also acts as a memento or souvenir that students can take away from each year. They can take it, look back on it and remember the good times that they had during that specific year at college.

However, this publication also serves another purpose. It is something that future classes can look back to better understand the students who came before them, as well as the times that they lived in. The “Chilhowean” is basically a snapshot of the college’s history taken each year. Clearly, this publication has quite some importance to MC’s community. Because of this, it only seems logical that students would wish for this publication to look presentable. Future students should be able to look back and see an aesthetically pleasing publication that represents the college well.

In recent years, students said that the content of the yearbook has been lacking, the layout has not been up to par and there have even been problems with correctly labeling the pictures of students. However, this year’s “Chilhowean” staff said that they have a number of changes in store for the yearbook, and they hope to create a publication that students will be proud of. “This year we’re hoping to have a cleaner, crisper and more modern look to the ‘Chilhowean,’” said Aryn Leighton, junior and editor-in-chief of the “Chilhowean.”

The staff said that they are going to start with the basics in order to improve the yearbook. First, they plan on including more copy. This copy will include sections about campus events, sports teams, professors and student life in general. Also, they plan on making sure every face is correctly labeled and plan on dividing the student pictures by class. One of the largest changes they have made is choosing a new printer of the publication. Instead of Jostens, they will now be using KCI, which is a custom yearbook printer that focuses on the freedom of design. “We have more flexibility and more freedom. We are using this to generate a yearbook that is more student collaborative,” Leighton said.

With KCI, new options will be available for the yearbook. One option will be that students can choose to customize 10 pages of their yearbook with their own pictures. These 10 pages will be in addition to the pages that will already be included in every yearbook. Also, students will now have to order and pay for their yearbooks. In the past, this publication has always been free to students. However, charging students has given the staff more flexibility to make a better publication. While students now have to pay for a copy, they can be assured that they will definitely get their money’s worth in the form of a well-designed and flawless publication. The “Chilhowean” staff said that they are looking to make the publication a proud tradition once more, and this is simply a necessary step in this process.

“We are definitely wanting to keep the integrity of the ‘Chilhowean,’ while still giving it a look that people will want to buy,” Leighton said. “If you have been disappointed in ‘Chilhoweans’ in the past, we hope you will give this one a chance. We plan on releasing a couple of pages beforehand, so you can see what you are buying.” “You are not necessarily getting a book full of pictures of people you do not know,” said Alex Quesenberry, junior and class section editor of the yearbook. “You can really make this book your own by putting in your own pictures as you customize your ten pages, if you would like.” Of course, with all the changes planned, there must be a dedicated staff to implement them.

“My staff is fantastic. This is my first year as the editor of the ‘Chilhowean,’ but I have been a yearbook editor for three years in the past,” Leighton said. “I am really lucky to have such a strong support staff this year.” Leighton said that she was honored to be asked to take on the role as editor of the “Chilowean.” “Our theme this year is ‘make your mark,’ and I think that is really important,” Leighton said. “I was not as involved my freshman and sophomore years, and I think that this is my chance to make my mark.” As a commuter, Quesenberry said that it is difficult to really feel involved on campus. “I see the ‘Chilhowean’ as a way for me to get involved on campus, even though I do not live there,” Quesenberry said.

While the “Chilhowean” has meaning to many students on campus, it is evident that it has even had a personal effect on the staff of this publication. With many planned changes and a hardworking staff, students can expect this year’s “Chilhowean” to be a publication that the college will definitely be proud of.

Once more, the “Chilhowean” will take a snapshot of this year at Maryville College, and it will be added to the many other issues of this publication that have archived college history since the publication’s beginning.