A great cap to a year of change

This truly is one of my favorite weeks of the year, when excellent work by students across our four divisions lands on the WKU campus at the same time (roughly, anyway).

Talisman, our oldest publication dating back to 1924, issued a spectacular magazine this week with a thinking-out-of-the-box concept in the theme of “Surreal,” a spectacular cover and some exceptional writing and visual storytelling. It’s the 14th edition of Talisman as a magazine, and one that has grown and evolved in rewarding ways.

The College Heights Herald, launched as a newspaper in 1925, published its latest enterprise magazine, a special issue called “City of Nations” that focuses on how Bowling Green’s burgeoning refugee and immigrant communities are reshaping the fabric of the city. “City of Nations” caps a year of dramatic change for the Herald as it blazes a new trail as a student-run news organization.

And our Student Publications Advertising and Cherry Creative operations busted all the records on our annual Grad Guide, bringing in more than $13,000 in revenue on a very popular publication. The Grad guide lists every graduating senior, has smart sponsored content and, this year, includes nearly 100 congratulatory ads from parents, grandparents and friends in our Grad Gallery.

All of our divisions have a strong games in the online world, with the Herald and Talisman email newsletters and websites and digital work done by Cherry and Advertising. But these students, across the board, are showing that there’s still plenty of life in print — as long as you give the reader value for picking up and reading those print editions. Our professional brethren could learn something from them.

I’m more than proud of these students at the Talisman, the Herald, Advertising and Cherry. They soared during the 2022-23 year here on the Hill!