The Saint

Story by Anastasia Benstead, Culture Editor

At 7pm last Thursday members of the Aquinas community gathered in Wege ballroom to hear the illustrious history of our very own college newspaper. Ryan Wendt gave the presentation. Technically holding the title of Locksmith/AQ Bikes Manager, Wendt is so much more than that. He spent his time during the Covid-19 Pandemic cataloging all 873 issues of the newspaper. Amazingly, Wendt fit everything that has ever been published into 25 one-subject notebooks. 

The Saint has had six different titles over the past 90 years, some more loved than others. When it began in 1933, the first ever publication was called The Lantern and was bound in maroon and gray to match the school colors chosen in 1931. The first volume of The Lantern is unfortunately missing. However, the second volume clearly defines when the first publication was, giving us a very good understanding of the first release. To subscribe to the paper, staff, students, and faculty only had to pay $1 a year. To buy a single issue, it only cost 5¢. In 1936, the name of the newspaper changed and became known as the Catholic Junior Herald. When the name of the college changed in 1940, the newspaper changed its name once again. The Aquinas Herald ran until 1970, and was styled to look more like a legitimate newspaper, rather than a booklet as the previous herald did. Unfortunately, a lack of funds and poor management created some very interesting outcomes. Many issues from that time period got published without dates, some articles without headlines, and there were many typos. This left the college no choice but to shut the newspaper down. 

Only a year later the newspaper started up once more. It was decided that there would be a competition for students to suggest names, and the most popular one would win. Micheal Shembra won with his suggestion of the Sunrise. Sunrise was published until 1883 when yet another name change occurred. Wanting a more dignified sounding name, the Aquinas Times was selected. The times had 22 students on their editorial staff, over twice as many as today. The  last name change occurred in 2004, with the still present title of The Saint. In 2015 The Saint began its  online debut. In 2018 publications stopped, and were only resumed after the pandemic with its first paper copy printed in 2021. Today The Saint is going strong, and hoping to strengthen in popularity amongst students and live up to its predecessors. 

Ryan Wendt of the Aquinas College Historical Commission at his event last week. Photo Credit to Anastasia Benstead

Logo for the first ever student newspaper at Aquinas College, The Lantern. Credit: Aquinas College Archives