EDITOR’S NOTE: In 1963, The Echo celebrated its 50th anniversary as Taylor University’s campus newspaper. In celebration, the newspaper issued a special edition of the paper that year with a number of “Echo-focused” pieces including one titled, “The ECHO and the Future.” The following Our View is in response to that article.
Dear Echo staff in 1963,
Hello from the Echo staff in 2024.
It is an honor to see that the hard work of the present is a trending characteristic across time — even from six decades ago. Among the many things that have changed journalistically throughout the years, this is one that has maintained itself.
We are excited to tell you that your dream of weekly publication for the newspaper has been achieved, and not only that, but in printed color!
We find comfort in saying that you no longer have to journey six hours a week to Marion — modern transportation and delivery services have changed that process. Now a driver delivers hundreds of copies of papers directly to our campus.
Your second improvement you so hoped for — more staff members — today is a total staff of 41.
The demands and work are not necessarily suited to all students. However, for those of us who work on the paper, we find great reward and joy in serving our student body. We, too, hope that our staff will do nothing but grow, grow, grow in the future — perhaps someday, someone will write a letter to us in 2024 detailing how our wish has been accomplished.
As we have written to you, dear brothers and sisters in 1963, we also write to future Echo staffers decades from now, telling them of our own hopes and dreams:
We hope for a continued Christian heart in our campus between the student body, administration and local Upland community.
In a traditional journalism sense, students often expect student newspapers to be pitted against its institution or community government. It is our hope The Echo will instead continue to serve as a bridge between these sides, informing one or the other of things happening on campus, thus inspiring change through informative storytelling. May the mission of The Echo maintain that you, the whole community of Taylor and Upland, are the voice…we are merely The Echo.
We also hope that a general enthusiasm for knowledge may grow on our student campus.
As an institution of higher education, we hope students will engage with The Echo — alongside other on-campus publications — growing in literacy, knowledge and awareness of what’s happening directly around them.
The amount of content in our paper doesn’t demand that students read every word, but the content does long to be known. Rather than looking to evoke emotion, we hope that readers and future writers alike will foster conversation, love and an opportunity for all sides to engage in fair truth-telling.
This is our hope as The Echo staff of 2024: Our publication will continue to inspire, inform and bring our community together through the stories and news we pour ourselves into each week.
We can only imagine, Echo staffers in 1963, that you would agree with us. So here’s to 111 years of Echo service, golden and growing as ever.
Yours Truly,
The Echo 2024
