Two years ago I was in the difficult college selection process. I remember receiving hundreds of pamphlets and fliers from schools across the country, only to visit those schools and collect more papers adorned with smiling students and impressive statistics.
However, when it came to choosing where I wanted to spend the next four years of my life, I didn’t turn to these staged advertisements. I looked at the newspaper.
I picked up a student newspaper at every school I visited. Even though students would give me tours and faculty would explain their departments to me, I found that an institution’s most authentic voice — the one accumulated by those who comprise it — could be found in the newspaper.
When I picked up my first issue of the Creightonian, I saw photographs of real students doing real things on campus. They were genuine and uninhibited.
I particularly remember one article from the sports section, written by a senior who was preparing to graduate. He wrote about how he was from Omaha and had been a Bluejay all his life by avidly following the men’s basketball team. He wrote with passion, not only about the sport, but also about the overall support found in every niche of Creighton.
I cannot say who wrote this article or what the headline was, but I can say that after two years, I remember reading it with my dad on the car ride home. That was my first authentic experience with a Creighton student — not a tour guide following a script or an admissions counselor with rehearsed answers. This article was a voice of Creighton, a voice I have come to realize stood for many who also appreciate the zeal and passion of this institution.
Having been a part of the Creightonian for a year and a half, I contribute to the voice of Creighton and have the privilege of hearing others through
their writing.
We are all the voice of Creighton because we are Creighton, in the most intrinsic sense. Arthur Miller, an American playwright, once said, “a good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”
The Creightonian is no different, except people throughout the greater Omaha community and World Wide Web also interact with us.
As a member of the Creightonian staff, I encourage you to contribute to this newspaper by any means of writing, photography or design.
As a fellow Creighton student, I urge you to become involved with the Creightonian because I want to hear your voice. In order for our paper to be representative of Creighton as a whole, we need as many people as possible to contribute. Be the voice.