Old issues of The Collegiate offer a glimpse of the past
Published in Feb.10, 2010 issue.

In this issue, there is a special section dedicated to old issues of The Collegiate.

Recently, past issues dating back to the 1920s have been archived and scanned into digital records.

While looking through the older issues, there is a definite change in how social, racial and gender issues were handled.

In the humor section, jokes about women and minorities show how different the times were, not only at GRCC but also throughout the world.

Ads for strip clubs peppered the pages in the 1970s, and although those companies surely paid for the ad space just like the other companies who placed ads with The Collegiate, these images were definitely “adult-themed”.

It would be easy for one to get upset, angered and confused by a perceived lack of compassion shown in some of the jokes or ads; however, these are intended for a look back in time.

By reflecting on these old issues we are offered a glimpse back, and forward. We can see how a joke that would offend many people by today’s standards would not only be commonplace, but comical in 1925.

Take a walk through the time line, and see how Grand Rapids Junior College was opened on September 21, 1914, and how GRJC became GRCC. The Exhaust (the original name of the student newspaper) became the Junior Collegiate, and later The Collegiate. And how in 2007 The Collegiate went digital with its own web site.

By looking back, we allow ourselves to look forward. We not only see how people have changed, but how they can change in the future.

We can see how people and culture evolve and change with the times.
In 2010, if The Collegiate ran an ad for a local strip club, with pictures, there would surely be some backlash from readers.

GRCC has a proud history, which The Collegiate has preserved with stories and photos. What better way to reflect on how the school has evolved, than with past issues of a student publication?

Here we can see more than what history books have to offer. Instead of only reading about what happened, we can read how it affected students and faculty alike.

Former student writers have moved on to work elsewhere, including right here on GRCC campus.

Fred van Hartesveldt, GRCC’s Faculty Association President, was the editor in chief of The Collegiate in 1975. However even van Hartesveldt can only give us details from the recent past.

By preserving back issues of The Collegiate, future generations will be able to look back at the 1920s, 1960s and 1980s.

GRCC students in the future will most likely look back at this year’s issues, archived on www.thecollegiatelive.com, and laugh at the fashions worn by students, or be amazed by the issues that were hot topics of the semester.

How will our grandchildren think of our generation, swooning over vampires or dancing to Lady Gaga?

What words that are commonplace today will become either offensive or obsolete in the future?

Time will only tell, and now GRCC’s history is saved for future generations.

1922	1924	1925

More Collegiate archives coming soon.