What’s the History of the Hudsonian?
The Hudsonian has been part of the HVCC community for a while, reporting on campus events and issues, along with providing the readers with feature articles. But does anyone know about the history of this long standing paper?
“The Hudsonian has always talked about campus events, issues, on campus and community stuff,” said Senior Senator, Kat Tisaj. “The paper’s been around for about 30 to 35 years,” said Louis Coplin, Director of Student Life. “It’s kept up with the times [and is] constantly evolving.”
“I don’t know much about the paper,” said Robyn Caldwell, freshman Business Administration. The Hudsonian can trace its roots back to the days of the early years of the community college, when it was originally called The Hudson Valley Technical Institute. Two years after its establishment in 1953, came The Technician, the predecessor of today’s campus newspaper. The Technician was first published in March 1955, with a cover featuring an illustration of one student saying, “We finally have a school paper.”
A bi-monthly publication, the paper featured much of the same content that characterized The Hudsonian for years, including information about various clubs around campus at the time, news about the student government, along with puzzles and cartoons for readers to enjoy. The current publication’s name, “The Hudsonian” was chosen after a contest held in 1961, open to all students. The person who came up with that name was student, Anita Bauman, who received a $5 campus bookstore gift certificate and a bracelet. The first paper with the “Hudsonian” name was published in December of that year.
The increase of content in the first Hudsonian from the original Technician coincides with the expansion of the HVCC campus itself, as enrollment grew and the campus moved from a building located in downtown Troy to its current location. In the 50 years since, The Hudsonian has been providing content that’s represented to the evolving student culture of HVCC the society around them. Papers from the late 1960s contain articles about figures such as Richard Nixon and Ralph Nader, and student opinions about the Vietnam War. Those from the 1970s have articles featuring the feminist movement and racial issues at the time and their effect on the campus community.
From the 1980s into the present, The Hudsonian continued to develop as the school expanded physically and in terms of courses offered. Faculty members, along with students, wrote columns for the paper, about issues and controversies within or outside the school. In February 2000, the paper found itself in controversy after it faced criticism from the Student Senate, when an ad for a local strip club was published in an issue. The paper was briefly shut down for eight days after the resignation of an adviser in response to the publication, culminating in a major campus-wide censorship debate. The Hudsonian resumed publication after the advertiser made an agreement with the Student Senate to cease publication of the advertisement.
As the exclusive student newspaper of HVCC approaches its 50th year publishing under its current name, The Hudsonian, the organization strives to keep providing informative content and quality stories to the Hudson Valley community, hopefully for another 50 years.