A New Leaf by Tri-an Cao ’21, MFA ’22

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.”

Media Mavens

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 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 Kira Garcia ’00, freelance writer for The New Yorker produced work for the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED, Leslie Griffy ’03, managing editor of Santa Clara Magazine and the San Antonio Current, among other outlets. Sarah Gonzalez ’09, host and reporter at NPR’s Planet Money The Campanil operates as a “First Amendment Tracy Hamilton ’99, story editor for the San Antonio Express paper,” which means that as an adviser, Dailey doesn’t Lita Martínez ’06, reporter/producer for Southern California Public Radio make editorial decisions or read copy before publication. “Hands-on work is the best teacher,” she says. “It’s Martha Ross, MFA ’98, features writer for the Bay Area News Group self-governing.”Alyia Yates ’17, producer for the podcast Mogul 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.

administration has been supportive. “They see it as an opportunity for students to learn and grow and test out their ability to communicate [what they’ve learned],” she notes.

Whether it’s through corrections or letters to the editor, Dailey says The Campanil has always been a public forum for the responses of the administration, students, faculty, and staff.

Still, some students remember pointed clashes with the administration, even the student government. Mibach, who was managing editor in 2015, recalls the numerous times when The Campanil’s budget was slashed. The particular incident when she was managing editor came at a time when many campus groups also faced cuts, but it seemed like The Campanil was hit especially hard.

“It was unclear, at least to me, if it was because of something that we had reported on,” she says, “It made you feel like, ‘Perhaps the [student] administration isn’t supportive of my paper.’”

As its first introduction, the front page of the newspaper gladly greeted new readers with a personal welcome from President Aurelia Reinhardt to the incoming students. In the editorial meanwhile, the board of managers proudly expressed its excitement and bold visions for this paper, even declaring: “We are going to endeavor to be so fine and strong that Dr. Criticism need never do more than Watch us Grow.” (Emphasis in original.)

What clearly set the Weekly apart from other local newspapers at the time was its spunky but genuine voice—a lighthearted element that would continue to persist in the attitudes of future staff members for years to come.

One of the student managers, Dorothy Calef (Class of 1920)— who would later become the main editor in 1919–20—wrote in the first alumnae-helmed issue of the Quarterly, published in April 1918: “By reporting college affairs [...] the Weekly hopes to keep the Alumnae, Faculty, and Student Body informed of campus doings and thus help bring them together.”

Bolstered by the efforts of these students, the newspaper rapidly grew. By 1922, the newspaper had enlarged in size and upgraded the quality of its paper, and the staff had grown to “20 staff members, 10 reporters, and four assistants,” according to an October Weekly article that same year. Advertising was also introduced to the newspaper in September 1921 to help pay for expenses. In 1923, the newspaper began to report on outside affairs in hopes to bring together the interests of the expanded Mills community, especially as the alum body grew. Despite this decision, the editorial team continued to largely focus on college stories, aiming to uphold Mills ideals to the best of its ability. By then, the newspaper had cemented its own place in Mills’ legacy.

Over the next few decades, the newspaper staff continued to build upon the foundations established by the original members, and they even developed their own traditions and charming quirks. One article in 1941 described how every Weekly dinner had a checkerboard cake as a necessary feature, and that the staff would present awards to outstanding members at the college picnic in June.

But not every newspaper tradition would last (such as the checkerboard cake, regrettably), and even the most rock-steady attributes of the paper weren’t safe from change. After all, the newspaper was dedicated to being true to the spirit of Mills, even if that meant shaking things up.

In 1958, the new editor, Tanya Wood ’60, and her team made the decision to rename the paper to The Mills Stream. In her editorial letter, Wood described how previous editors had been eager to rename the paper to something less misleading—by this point, the newspaper had changed to a bi-weekly schedule. Of the 50 suggestions submitted by board members, two were the finalists: El Campanil and The Mills Stream. The latter was selected. “The Mills Stream contained more meaning pertinent to the students, faculty, alumnae, trustees, and administration,” Wood wrote.

Yet, the change wouldn’t stick—in January 1986, the name was

changed back to the Weekly. According to Cheryl Reid-Simons ’87, who was the student editor at the time, the newspaper team believed they had enough news and staff members to switch back to a weekly publication. “We opted for [Mills College Weekly] both as a nod to tradition and, frankly, a way to ensure that at least medium-term, no one could take us back to a bi-weekly publication,” she says.

Additionally, the staff itself underwent some major upgrades that same year. Its members obtained their first computers to use for the newspaper, and the team moved offices from an annex at the back of Mills Hall into the Cowell Center. “Despite finally getting computers, we still had to get [the newspaper] typeset, which involved dropping a copy off with a lovely woman just down MacArthur Boulevard,” Reid-Simons recalls. “The paper had tremendous support from [the ASMC]–we asked for funding for a new light table to do layout, and to our surprise they gave us more than we asked for. So we got two light tables and scads of border tape.” Of course, not every upgrade was work-related. The staff still had their moments of fun, just as their predecessors did. “Our unofficial motto, printed on sweatshirts, was: ‘I like it. It’s original. Let’s go with it.’” Reid-Simons mentions fondly. “I have no idea, in hindsight, why we thought that was so funny, but we did.” The newspaper made its last move, to Rothwell Center, in the 1990s, and its last name change in 2007. On September 4—coincidentally, the same day the very first issue was published 90 years earlier—The Campanil welcomed the new fall semester with its new name. “We are retooling ourselves to have a stronger and more meaningful presence on campus,” the editorial announced.

BRITT ALLEN

She also recalls when she wrote an article as a first-year about changes to the College’s financial aid process, which angered the department. “To this day I still don’t fully understand what they wanted corrected, but boy, were they upset,” she says now.

Then, after the paper published a series of op-eds critical of the administration, a stack of issues disappeared from an oncampus distribution spot. “We would place some of the papers right near the president’s office because a lot of people passed by that spot,” she says with a laugh. “Who’s going to take a stack of 50 in one go? We weren’t that popular.”

Mibach says that The Campanil’s then-adviser, Sarah Pollock, handled the incident by emailing the administration with a reminder. “She said, ‘This is against the First Amendment, and if you have an issue then do what anyone else would do: Write a letter to the editor,’” Mibach says.

Not all clashes at The Campanil were external. As in any college newsroom where late nights and exhausting deadlines are the norm, the atmosphere is often fraught with a chaotic and intense energy. Jen Ramos ’15 remembers a time on The Campanil that left them frustrated enough to take a break. An English major, Ramos joined the paper after seeing a listing advertising for an online editor position.

“I didn’t have any journalism experience, but as someone who grew up on the internet and knew [computer] programming, I figured I could do this,” Ramos says.

For two years it was great, Ramos says, but then staff changes, personality clashes, and various editorial decisions at the top left them exasperated. Ramos left for a semester, but agreed to return after a conversation with the editor-in-chief and managing editor.

“They listened to my concerns,” they say. “And the year that I returned was easily the best year I spent on staff.”

Ramos, who went on to earn a minor in journalism at Mills and a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California, now mentors youth in journalism as a program coordinator for We’Ced Youth Media in Merced through the Youth Leadership Institute, where a colleague of Ramos’ is a fellow alum of The Campanil. Mills, Ramos says, gave them an essential foundation that led to sports reporting gigs and an internship with the San Jose Sharks. Later, they undertook an internship with the Center for Investigative Reporting—which, at the time, was led by Amy Pyle as its editor in chief.

“My quality of work was at least on par with some of the folks who were coming out of Berkeley or Stanford,” Ramos says. “Mills got me more places than my degree at USC did.”

They look back at Mills as a place of growth that left a profound impact. “You’re a part of a community of friends who are willing to have these conversations about gender, race, and ethnicity, and all these different intersections,” Ramos says. “The relationships built in that newsroom are fundamental.” 

Mills Weekly staff, 2001

The name wasn’t the only significant transition the newspaper went through in the past century—the technology advanced too. In an article in the spring 2012 Quarterly, Jessica Langlois, MFA ’10, wrote how the staff evolved from using “photo-sizing wheels, exacto knives, and waxers to lay out the newspaper by hand” to utilizing modern desktop publishing software. This transition was overseen by then-faculty adviser, Professor of English Sarah Pollock. Additionally, The Campanil website has seen significant growth since its inception in 2003.

It’s not surprising then that the student staff of editors and reporters have received tremendous praise for their efforts. By 2015, The Campanil had won more than 20 different awards for its reporting and website, and the newspaper has been recognized at multiple conferences hosted by the California College Media Association and the Associated Collegiate Press.

Today, The Campanil continues its time-honored promise to report campus news and student stories. “Although The Campanil is funded by the ASMC and has a faculty adviser, it is an independent, student-run newspaper that represents the Mills students’ voice,” wrote Emily Burian ’18 for The Campanil’s 100th anniversary article in May 2016. The current header of The Campanil newspaper proudly echoes these sentiments: “Keeping in time with the Mills Community since 1917.”

While the newspaper has undergone large and small transformations over the years, including name changes, the transfer to a digital platform, and even the start and end of treasured staff traditions, some core aspects would never change. Namely, the stories and voices of the student body remain at the heart of the newspaper, thanks to the tireless work accomplished by generations of reporters and staff members.