A Centennial Celebration of News & Worldview
With The Conglomerate’s long history spanning exactly 100 years, it only makes sense that the newspaper has been privy to some of Centenary’s most monumental moments. Many of these moments were documented in the News & Worldview section, which today still includes reports of campus infrastructural changes, incoming and outgoing faculty, messages from the President, campus-wide activities, and more.
An article written in 1997 by Amy Brown, The Conglomerate’s Circulation Manager, titled “Co-ed dorm finally a reality,” announced the inclusion of women in Rotary Hall, as well as new renovations. For 67 years, Rotary remained exclusive to male students, but with the $2 million-plus renovations, which included wiring for internet, televisions, and telephones, the dormitory was finally made co-educational. Prior to the renovation, no dormitories on campus were co-ed. The completion of this project was fueled by students’ requests for apartments on campus that would give them more independence and space. Each suite was furnished with a coffee table, a couch, two chairs, and a kitchenette. Honestly, not much about the apartments themselves has changed since then; however, now all five campus dormitories are co-ed.
Alongside updates to the campus, The Centenary Conglomerate, later renamed The Conglomerate, wrote about the more personal aspects of students’ lives. On August 14, 1924, The Centenary Conglomerate published an article titled “Claire M. Cotton Marries Florida Girl” in Issue One. The article describes how Claire M. Cotton, who was a male cheerleader for two years at Centenary, as well as editor-in-chief of the Yoncopin, met and married a girl from Florida. They had spent only one month of dating before becoming engaged. In the same issue, written is the then Centenary President, George Sexton’s, address celebrating Centenary’s 100th anniversary. In the message, President Sexton praised the institution for educating students through a century of pioneering days, WWI, and the Yellow Fever epidemic…sound familiar?
Long before it was recognized as The Conglomerate, the newspaper was called Maroon and White. One of the earliest issues on record was published in December of 1902 in a pamphlet format. It included articles about spiritual life, fables, and student pranks (one of which entailed students lighting giant firecrackers inside the faculty buildings). Issues from 1918 describe and compare the state of affairs in countries from around the world, such as Brazil and Russia. Coincidentally, the News & Worldview section returned to reporting on global events this semester.
As Section Head for the News & Worldview section this year, it has given me quite a thrill to read through many past issues of the paper and examine the bold illustrations sprinkled throughout. Better than any textbook, looking through the archived Conglomerate issues taught me so much about Centenary’s extensive history and the ever-evolving format of the school newspaper. If you are interested in doing the same, simply contact campus Archivist Chris Brown or go to the Centenary website and click on the ‘Library’ tab.
