Old Gold & Black

Last updated
Old Gold & Black
TypeBiweekly student newspaper
Format Tabloid
SchoolWake Forest University
Owner(s)Student-run
PublisherTriangle Publishing
Founded1916
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersBenson University Center
Circulation 1,750
Website wfuogb.com

The Old Gold & Black (sometimes abbreviated to OGB) is the student-run newspaper of Wake Forest University, named after the school's colors. The newspaper was founded in 1916 [1] and is published in print every other Thursday, with the exception of school holidays and exam weeks. [2] The Old Gold & Black's office is located on the fifth floor of the Benson University Center on Wake Forest's main campus.

Contents

The Old Gold & Black is a newspaper that has placed many times at Associated Collegiate Press conferences.

Recent awards

The Old Gold & Black has received a number of Associated Collegiate Press awards:

The Old Gold & Black has won the ACP's "preeminent" Pacemaker award twice: in 2001, and in 2004, its Online Pacemaker Award.

Former managing editor Lisa Hoppenjans and former managing editor Jae Haley have both received the Jim Murray Scholarship Award, a national award for excellence in sports writing at the college level.

Former editorial cartoonist William Warren was the first-place winner of the 2006 John Locher Memorial Award. [10]

Marks on Wake Forest history

The Old Gold & Black is responsible for naming the Wake Forest mascot, the Demon Deacon. [11] In 1923, the Wake Forest American football team defeated rival Duke University. In the following issue of the Old Gold and Black, sports editor Mayon Parker (1924 Wake Forest graduate) first referred to the team as "Demon Deacons", in recognition of what he called their "devilish" play and fighting spirit. [11] Henry Belk, Wake Forest's news director, and Hank Garrity, the coach who led the team to their victory, liked the title and used it often, so the name stuck.

Due to pressure from the Baptist State Convention in the late 1930s, the college began to take a strong stance against student dancing. The decision and subsequent enforcement was harshly criticized by the editorial board of the Old Gold & Black. In the February 4, 1939 issue, the editorial board argued that "Despite the objection of some few blue-nosed and narrow-minded powers-that-be, you can't stop Wake Forest students from dancing. It would work wonders for the morale of the school as a whole." This lobbying on behalf of social organizations is credited with the eventual founding of national fraternities and sororities at Wake Forest. [12]

Controversies

In October 1962, the High Point Central Baptist Association censured the Old Gold & Black for running an advertisement featuring a student mixing an alcoholic beverage in his dorm room. The controversy of the advertisement was part of ongoing tensions between university leadership and the Baptist State Convention. In response to the censure, university officials promised to Baptist board members that the ads would not reappear. [13]

In December 1989, Tim Bell, a Wake Forest student studying abroad in China, was found guilty by the Honor Council of deceiving his professors who were chaperoning the trip. Bell had secretly filmed parts of the Tiananmen Square massacre and then smuggled them out of the country. [14] Public opinion on campus was mixed following the conviction; some felt he acted heroically while others thought he was selfish for endangering the rest of the students on the trip. Nevertheless, in an editorial the Old Gold & Black defended Bell's actions and criticized the Honor Council for procedural errors. Eventually, Bell's conviction was overturned. [15]

In March 2000, the Old Gold & Black published an anti-Semitic advertising insert entitled "The Revisionist." The Editorial Staff realized its error later that day, and issued a public apology. The Resident Student Association sponsored a forum where the issue was discussed. President Thomas Hearn issued a powerful public statement uniting the campus community against the hatred represented in the insert and creating a schedule of Holocaust-related speakers and events for the following semesters. Furthermore, the advertising manager wrote an op-ed piece regretting her mistake and taking full responsibility. She announced that the proceeds of the advertisement would be donated to a local Holocaust Center. [16] As a result of the insert, a formal advertising policy was established and goals were set to improve communication between the editorial and business offices.

Executive Staff

The five people most responsible for the day-to-day operations of the paper are the Editor-in-Chief, the Business Manager, the Deputy Editor, the Managing Editor, and the Multimedia Director. The incoming The outgoing editor-in-chief also selects the following year's editorial board with the input of the other executive editors.

There were two editors in the 1989 school year because editor Jonathan Jordan ran for a seat in the 39th District of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He would lose the race and resign his position to catch up on his school work. Alan Pringle would take his post. [17]

Notable alumni

References

  1. "Old Gold and Black". Old Gold and Black Digital Collection. Wake Forest University Z. Smith Reynolds Library. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  2. McNeely, Connor. "From the editor: A new tradition". Old Gold & Black. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  3. "ACP Announces 2013 Pacemaker Winners | ACP News & Notes". studentpressblogs.org. Archived from the original on 2013-12-20.
  4. "ACP - Contest Winners". Studentpress.org. Archived from the original on 2013-03-24. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  5. "ACP - Contest Winners". Studentpress.org. Archived from the original on 2013-03-24. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  6. "ACP - Contest Winners". Studentpress.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  7. "ACP - Contest Winners". Studentpress.org. Archived from the original on 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  8. "ACP - Contest Winners". Studentpress.org. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  9. Shaw, Bynum (1988). The History of Wake Forest College (PDF). Wake Forest University. p. 313. ISBN   0-918401-01-1.
  10. "AAEC/John Locher Award Winner". KRT campus. Archived from the original on March 23, 2006.
  11. 1 2 "Evolution of the Deacon". Old Gold and Black. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2013-09-15.
  12. Paschal, George (1943). The History of Wake Forest College (PDF). Raleigh, NC: Wake Forest College. p. 461.
  13. Shaw, Bynum (1988). The History of Wake Forest College (PDF). Wake Forest University. p. 149. ISBN   0-918401-01-1.
  14. "Student Censured; Hero or Deceiver?". The New York Times. December 4, 1989.
  15. Gladding, Samuel (2016). The History of Wake Forest University (PDF). Wake Forest University. p. 132. ISBN   978-1-61846-013-4.
  16. "Fighting Holocaust Denial in Campus Newspaper Advertisements" (PDF). Anti Defamation League. May 2010.
  17. Gladding, Samuel (2016). The History of Wake Forest University (PDF). Wake Forest University. p. 132. ISBN   978-1-61846-013-4.