The Utica College student newspaper has been around since Nov. 6, 1946. Although that may seem like quite a long time ago, there are many similarities that have continued through the times. UC sports have always been a big focus on campus, charity events have also been highlighted, as well as the overall student life. 

Sports have always been covered in the newspaper. For example, in March 1950, basketball season was in full swing. Utica had just taken on The University of Rochester, when former student-athlete Harry Kahler just set the single-game scoring record with 29 points. 

Today, UC men’s basketball is trying to make a run at the conference championship. They are now 2-0 putting up 92 and 82 points in just two games. The team’s first win against Elmira College was almost by 40 points. 

There have been many charity events run by students such as the “Home Runs for Charity” event that was put together by the student senate in March 2000. Students and staff from all around were able to attend with a $10 entry fee per person. All of the proceeds to this event were donated to the charity of the winning teams choice. 

Dating back to March of 1998 the America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk started, and since then has always been something that students and staff are looking forward to at UC. Thousands of Utica community members come together to walk or run in hopes of raising money to fight against heart disease and stroke. 

In 2010 the event raised over 1 million dollars for the charitable cause. The Heart Run/Walk is still growing, bringing in over 10,000 people in 2019 to run for a better cause. In March 2020, the event was canceled because of COVID-19, breaking a 23-year-old tradition. 

However, this was not the end of the charity, people can still donate money and help out in other ways. There are even donation buckets throughout campus that people can throw spare change into if they desire. 

The dynamic of student life has evolved drastically as generations have changed. For example, in the March 1950 issues, advertisements for cigarettes were commonly seen. It was also common to advertise alcohol to students through the newspapers. In today’s standards, such ads wouldn’t fit in a student newspaper.

In 1970, Mohawk Valley Community College and UC joined together to host a concert by Chicago, a popular band at the time. The profits made were split between both schools, and UC made $6,000 from the event. Concerts are something UC has discontinued, and replaced with other events such as the carnival during Homecoming in the fall semester.  

Another element student life had to offer was a full Spring Break trip to Florida for only $99. In March of 1985, students were able to take a motor coach round trip vacation to Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale. This would be something students would enjoy still to this day, yet, times have changed, and making that happen would be nearly impossible. In fact, currently, UC students and many colleges throughout have canceled Spring Break all together because of the pandemic. 

It can be interesting to see how far UC has come in its academics and student lifestyle. One can see just how much change occurred throughout history by looking back on the student newspaper. Taking a look back at the much earlier issues, people can almost grasp what it may have been like to be a student at that time.