Beyond the Campus

Abstract

College newspapers in the United States primarily focus on the internal life of the campus community. However, campuses are also part of the larger community and coverage of off-campus news is often integral to that community. This research seeks to document and describe the coverage of national and international news events during the interwar period of 1920 to 1940 by analyzing the contents of six geographically dispersed college newspapers. Although the level of coverage of national and international events did not overshadow the typical college coverage of sports and social activities, off-campus coverage was reflective of the interwar period and of what was published in community and city newspapers. Rising conflict in Europe and in the Far East did not go unnoticed, nor did economic depression and New Deal programs that could help students remain in school.