A year like Taylor has experienced this 2023-2024 academic year will no doubt make its mark in the history books — but it’s not just historians who care about what’s been happening in the cornfields of Upland, Indiana.
Sophomore public relations majors Alexa Twiggs and Karissa Collins are this year’s co-editors in chief of the Ilium, Taylor’s student-produced yearbook.
Twiggs and Collins are grateful for the opportunity to lead the Ilium team in preserving such a momentous year on campus, so much so that they’ve named the theme of this year’s edition “Overflow.”
“(‘Overflow’), I think, just does encapsulate this year because we have an abundance of a lot of things, like obviously students, with our largest freshman class, but then we have the Lilly grant, we’ve had like six groundbreakings now — there’s so much growth going into Taylor right now and coming out of Taylor,” Twiggs said.
The Ilium had its foundation in 1898 when it was first published by the senior class, five years after Taylor moved from Fort Wayne to its Upland campus, according to Taylor University archives.
This first edition was dedicated to Bishop William Taylor, for whom the university is named. At that time, the yearbook was called The Gem.
It was not until 1921 that it began to be published annually.
Over the years, the name has changed a few times, but in 1963, The Gem became what we know it as today: Ilium. The origin of the name “Ilium” derives from a translation of the ancient Greek city, “Troja,” harkening back to the namesake of the school’s mascot, a Trojan.
Each fall, the past year’s yearbook is distributed to Taylor students free of additional charge; the cost is considered covered by tuition.
Under the leadership of Ilium adviser and Associate Professor of Communication Donna Downs, Twiggs and Collins are responsible for the creative direction of the yearbook staff, which includes designers, writers and photographers.
Downs connects the team with financial support from the university and oversees the development of the book.
“She has a say in everything, but she tries not to insert her opinion into everything,” Twiggs said. “She is really good about giving us a lot of creative freedom.”
For the most part, projects are completed individually. The workload can differ from week to week depending on a student’s position on the team.
However, the entire team meets once each week to discuss to-do items and how to execute their shared creative vision.
“It’s just a good time, and it’s a really great group of girls,” Twiggs said. “Everyone’s so talented and kind.”
Twiggs, who started at the beginning of her sophomore year as the team’s managing editor, quickly rose to fill the co-editor in chief position alongside Collins.
The two are united in their passion to memorialize — through photographs, design and writing — what it is like to be a Taylor student at this moment in the overarching timeline of the university’s history.
“When you get older, you want something to show your kids,” Twiggs said. “It’s just exciting to see yourself in a book and be able to look through, and we’re trying to focus on things that are specific to this year because this is such an exciting year for Taylor … So making sure that all of those year’s specific things are highlighted, so that if (in) 20 years someone opens the book, their memory will be refreshed with everything that was exciting this year.”
Twiggs and her team often rely on past years’ books for inspiration but tweak content to match the overall design and theme.
This year, the university switched to a new yearbook provider, so the team has had to navigate how each aspect of the book comes together along the way.
For Twiggs, the most rewarding part of working on the Ilium team is seeing the pages be submitted to the publisher: a physical reminder of not just the hard work the team has done but also the representation of memories made by the student body across campus.
Students interested in or pursuing majors related to design, photography, media and professional writing would be the most likely to benefit from working for the Ilium, although applications are open to everyone. Students may also receive media credit and financial compensation for their work.
Twiggs encourages those who are interested to apply to join the team.
The Ilium team is looking forward to seeing the final product of their hard work go to print and be distributed to students next fall.
They are thrilled to be entrusted with the opportunity to capture the “overflow” that this year has been for the Taylor community — a theme that will impact readers for years to come, leading them to consider the blessings the Lord has showered on Upland in this unique time.
