By Ryan Wendt, Aquinas College Historical Commission
The college newspaper has had six different titles over the past 90 years. 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 from the Archives. 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 to Aquinas College, the newspaper changed its name once again. The Aquinas Herald ran from 1940-1970, 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 1983 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 in 1983, over twice as many as the staff in 2023. 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 in 2023,The Saint is going strong, and hoping to strengthen in popularity amongst students and live up to its predecessors.
The Lantern 1933-1936
The Catholic Junior Herald 1936-1940
The Aquinas Herald 1940-1970
The Sunrise 1971-1983
Aquinas Times 1983-2004
The Saint 2004-Present
The Saint 