History of The Reflector.
For 90 years, students and staff have poured hours and efforts into the production of The Reflector. Throughout the years, the paper has seen many changes. Editors, staff writers and advisers have come and gone. Production techniques have changed with the times, too.
The first issue of The Reflector was published on November 15, 1922. However, the university did not always have a news publication. UIndy was founded in 1902 with money given to the school by the United Brethren Church. When money ran out, the president at the time had to begin to raise the money still needed. The lack of a student publication is largely due to these money issues. The first student publication printed at UIndy was called The Oracle, which was a yearbook first printed in 1909.
If one were to flip through the pages of the first edition of The Reflector, they would notice a few differences from today’s issues of The Reflector. To help with the funding, there were ads on many pages. Another notable difference is the change in size. The first issue of The Reflector was 8 by 11.75 inches. By the third issue, the page sizes jumped up to 10 by 13.5 inches. After that, the issues would vary in size.
The first editor was David Manley. Not only was Manley the first editor-in-chief, but he was also the university’s first international student. He traveled from Sierra Leone to study in Indianapolis. Manley did not stay long as editor-in-chief; after the first two issues, he was replaced. Until 1959, the paper would have a faculty adviser in charge. The paper was run by advisers in the public relations field. After 1983, the paper switched back to faculty advisors.
UIndy Director of Publications and University Editor Peter Noot not only wrote for the paper, but he also eventually became a faculty adviser. During his junior year, he was the paper’s editor. He was an adviser from 1980 to 1983. According to Noot, the paper definitely has changed.
“It is now more sophisticated and professionalized,” Noot said. “When I worked for the paper, the production process was complicated and slower. In those days, articles had to be typed on a typewriter, and then sent off to the publisher to be proofread. It would take two days just for a correction. The photos had to be developed manually in a dark room, which was next to a rodent lab.”
Noot also recalls that when he was the adviser, The Reflector was not a part of a course. Today it counts as part of an applied course for the university. It used to be only an extra-curricular activity. Editors were not paid for their work, but the editor-in-chief was given a $150 honorarium for his or her work. The Reflector’s office is now located on the Third Floor of Esch Hall, but it used to be located in the Schwitzer Concourse, which was in the basement of Schwitzer. According to Noot, the newspaper staff lived on canteen coffee and spent their evenings in The Reflector office.
As the times changed, so did those things around them. And The Reflector was there to cover them. It reported on issues such as dorm hours for women, which, Noot said, was a popular topic during his time. Other more recent popular topics include problems with Hanna Avenue. The Reflector has been writing about Hanna Avenue for a while, discussing topics from lack of light to jaywalking.
“Journalists are usually concerned with today’s news, not the retrospective,” said the university’s archivist Christine Guyonneau. “However, 90 years is a big accomplishment. For the last 90 years, The Reflector has been here to get the news out to UIndy’s students, making and reporting history.”
Anyone wishing to review old editions of The Reflector can do so at archives.uindy.edu.
