After nearly two years of absence, the Sou’wester has returned as the official Rhodes College student newspaper. The paper simply faded away after the November 2013 issue, but, in the spring of 2015, Christian Baum had the idea to bring it back.
Zoe Laulederkind ’18 explains that Christian, who has now graduated, realized that without a school newspaper, there was a lack of community conversation surrounding issues and events affecting both Rhodes and campuses nationwide. He quickly began to recruit new members, including Zoe, who says, “Christian brought me onto the project a month before he hoped to print the first issue. My role was to acquire writers and organize and edit the paper, since I was an editor for my high school’s publication.”
Ally Limmer ’16 was then brought on to help manage the overall organization. “Christian, Zoe, and three other students had found the drive to bring back the student newspaper, but didn’t necessarily know how to go about navigating the technical, administrative side of getting this effort off the ground. That is where I played the largest role, initially,” she explains. Finally, Doug Fetterman ’16 joined when, he says, “Christian ambushed me in the library and told me to attend a meeting that evening.” As a senior, Christian knew that the people he chose to help him would end up running the paper themselves the next year. And this year, Zoe, Ally, and Doug share editor-in-chief responsibilities.
The Sou’wester had been the student newspaper at Rhodes since before the school moved to Memphis in 1925. When it folded in 2013, it was a monthly, mostly filled with columns and campus safety reports. In its new iteration, the Sou’wester publishes nearly every week; a total of 12 issues will be printed this semester. Doug is proud of the new publishing schedule. “The momentum we’ve built by publishing weekly and by insisting on high standards will carry us through any challenges we face.” However, the schedule is one of those challenges. Zoe, a sophomore, is worried about finding writers who will contribute consistently. “While a free-flowing atmosphere concerning writers is encouraged, we still need enough content to print every Friday.”
The future of the Sou’wester is full of possibilities. The biggest discussion now is whether or not to begin an online edition. According to Ally, “We are hesitant to go online while the paper is still so young, but we wonder if that would produce higher readership.” For Zoe, moving the paper online, while maintaining the print version, is one of her goals. “The Sou’wester will continue as a print newspaper, with a movement toward an online version.” They have already begun publishing and sharing each issue on Facebook as a PDF, allowing parents and alumni to access the paper.
Overall, the editors are excited about the Sou’wester and the impact it has on campus. “The Sou’wester should matter to every student on campus. Not only does it give students an avenue for self- and group-promotion, it allows our students to celebrate the successes of our fellow classmates,” says Ally. “I have slowly but surely seen more and more students anticipate our Friday print dates and request to both write for, and have their events featured, in the Sou’wester.”
As seniors, this will be Doug and Ally’s last year on the Sou’wester. Doug, a biology major, is interested in the medical field. “I am currently applying to medical school, and hope to pursue a career in academic medicine. I want to keep writing, either through research or less formal publications.” Ally, who is pursuing a double major in biochemistry and molecular biology and Spanish, applied early to medical schools, and has already been accepted into two programs. Zoe plans to continue expanding and enhancing the Sou’wester through her senior year, while also completing an economics major.
By Sam Clark '17
