“And Now the Phoenix”

The Mount Holyoke News becomes Choragos

In March 1968, editor-in-chief at the time, Julie Van Camp, class of 1969, announced that The Mount Holyoke News would be renamed Choragos. The word “choragos” refers to the leader of a Greek chorus, reflecting Van Camp’s vision of the newspaper being an active force for change on campus rather than “passive observers.” Van Camp’s editorial, “and now the phoenix,” evokes the image of the new newspaper rising from the ashes of MHN. Not everyone supported the newspaper’s transformation. Many members of the editorial board resigned, but Van Camp was able to recruit enough new staff to keep Choragos running. The paper was reimagined in a newsmagazine format, featuring more photographs and themed issues. In an article written for the United States Student Press Association, Van Camp explained that “startling changes in appearance will attract your reader’s eye and suggest to him that the content just may have changed as well.”

Photograph of Choragos editors in news office, circa 1969. From left to right: Julie Van Camp ’69, editor-in-chief, Aimee Garn and Cynthia Porter, both class of 1971, newly appointed co-editors.

In addition to articles written by students, Choragos regularly featured pieces written by students and faculty from other colleges and universities around the country. One such guest editorial, written by Gerald Farber, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, caused controversy for its liberal use of explicit language. The issue gained so much attention that Choragos and Van Camp were featured in an article from The National Observer entitled “Smut on Campus.” Despite the numerous letters to the editors expressing their abhorrence of the editorial, the Choragos staff defended their right to publish such articles.

Image from the National Observer newspaper with the headline "The Dirty-Language Trend, Smut on Campus: What's Behind It?" To the right of the headline is a photograph of Chorgos editor-in-chief Julie Van Camp with the caption "Miss Van Camp: Hassling at Holyoke."
Smut on Campus, The National Observer, January 20, 1969.
January 29, 1969. Dear Mr. Kreigh, Thank you for your letter about the Observer article. I have enclosed a copy of the issue mentioned in the article, and have asked my circulation manager to send you a few other issues by second-class mail. You might be interested to know that I have already received six letters from readers of the Observer across the country. Unfortunately, their condemnation of my efforts on this newspaper are, at least to me, more inherently "obscene" than any of the words we may have printed this year. I think too many people think college editors are now using "obscene" words simply to excite the "prurient interests" of our readers. Nothing could be father from the truth -- the words we have used are common in everyday language (yes, even at Mount Holyoke!). I often wonder what is so sacred about print. I also wonder why "obscene words," when they are used as nothing more that exclamation points (which is certainly my experience with them) are any more "dirty" that "golly" or "gee." And, as one girl pointed out in a letter to the editor of this paper, words like "hate," "war," and "napalm" are inherently more obscene than "fuck" or "shit." I would be very interested in your reactions to our newspaper. Thank you again for your interest. Sincerely, Julie Van Camp
Letter written by editor-in-chief Julie Van Camp responding to criticism of “obscene” words in Choragos, January 29, 1969.

Van Camp earned an honorable mention in the 1969 Minnie Ryan Dwight Prize for excellence in journalism, winning a special prize of $10. That same year, Barbara Smith, class of 1969, managing editor of Choragos, and later author, activist, and independent scholar, also submitted her work to the judges for the prize. The first place prize ended up going to Sheryl McCarthy, class of 1969, a feature editor for Choragos.