It gave her the self-assurance to walk into male-dominated newsrooms and know that she belonged there. “I had the confidence to do that in part, because at Mills I’d been told, ‘Don’t let that hold you back,’” Pyle says. Emily Mibach ’16 shares this sentiment. An English major who minored in journalism, she served as editor-in-chief of The Campanil and now works as a reporter at the Palo Alto Daily Post. “I found that because I went from the all-female/nonbinary newsroom of The Campanil to an almost entirely all-male newsroom that I knew how not to get man-splained,” she says. “I knew how to stand up for myself. I had a backbone.”
‘A civic literature of life’ When Ghebreyesus explains what elevates Mills above other programs, she points to The Campanil’s current faculty adviser, Keli Dailey. “This was the first time in my two years of college where I had a Black and woman professor, and that was a game changer,” says Ghebreyesus, who hopes to pursue filmmaking. “[Dailey] has so much experience in journalism, and she’s teaching us the same things you learn at a school like Columbia: you’re just learning it at a different house.” An adjunct professor and head of the communications program, Dailey calls journalism “a civic literature of life” and a
Media Mavens
core teaching principle. “I tell my students that journalOther alumnae making waves in journalism include the luminaries below:
ism is the only job listed in the Constitution,” Dailey says.
Tracy Clark-Flory ’06, author and staff writer for Jezebel
“What we seek to teach is an appreciation for one of the
Laura Cucullu ’06, strategic operations director at Bay City News
most important elements of a free democracy.” She has produced work for the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED,
Kira Garcia ’00, freelance writer for The New Yorker
and the San Antonio Current, among other outlets.
Leslie Griffy ’03, managing editor of Santa Clara Magazine
The Campanil operates as a “First Amendment
Sarah Gonzalez ’09, host and reporter at NPR’s Planet Money
paper,” which means that as an adviser, Dailey doesn’t
Tracy Hamilton ’99, story editor for the San Antonio Express Lita Martínez ’06, reporter/producer for Southern California Public Radio Martha Ross, MFA ’98, features writer for the Bay Area News Group Alyia Yates ’17, producer for the podcast Mogul
make editorial decisions or read copy before publication. “Hands-on work is the best teacher,” she says. “It’s self-governing.” As in any learning environment, that means mistakes are made. For the most part, Dailey says, the College’s
A New Leaf To celebrate one of the oldest student publications in Mills history, the Quarterly takes a look at the notable changes and advancements in the century-long history of The Campanil. By Tri-an Cao ’21, MFA ’22
Beginning in the fall of 1917, as the leaves changed colors and the weather grew colder, Mills College also bustled with change: The first-year Class of 1921 had just arrived on campus, new classrooms in Mills Hall opened their doors for the first time, and College Hall boasted a fresh coat of paint and upgraded conveniences. But amidst all these changes, a humble newspaper made its own debut. Before it was The Campanil as we know it now, the first issue of the Mills College Weekly was published on September 4, 1917, overseen by chair and editor Hilda Clute (Class of 1918) and a small team of nine student managers—some of whom are pictured at left. This four-page paper sprung up in response to the rapid growth of the campus. Registration had increased, new departments were added, and even a new dormitory had been built. Mills was expanding, and so too did the distance between different aspects of campus life. When the 1919 yearbook, The Mills Chimes, reflected on these times, it noted: “The College family became a little broken up so that each no longer knew what the other was doing.” The previous student publication, Mills College Magazine—a literary magazine that began in 1909—had recently been discontinued, which meant that the campus now lacked a means to convey campus news. But Mills didn’t need another literary magazine; it needed a publication to unite the larger campus body. Thus, the Weekly was born.
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