{"id":51,"date":"2025-04-10T18:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/?page_id=51"},"modified":"2025-04-24T15:55:04","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:55:04","slug":"and-now-the-phoenix","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/and-now-the-phoenix\/","title":{"rendered":"“And Now the Phoenix”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Mount Holyoke News<\/em> becomes Choragos<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In March 1968, editor-in-chief at the time, Julie Van Camp, class of 1969, announced that The Mount Holyoke News<\/em> would be renamed Choragos<\/em>. The word \u201cchoragos\u201d refers to the leader of a Greek chorus, reflecting Van Camp\u2019s vision of the newspaper being an active force for change on campus rather than \u201cpassive observers.\u201d Van Camp\u2019s editorial, \u201cand now the phoenix,\u201d evokes the image of the new newspaper rising from the ashes of MHN<\/em>. Not everyone supported the newspaper\u2019s 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 \u201cstartling changes in appearance will attract your reader\u2019s eye and suggest to him that the content just may have changed as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
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.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addition to articles written by students, Choragos <\/em>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 <\/em>and Van Camp were featured in an article from The National Observer <\/em>entitled \u201cSmut on Campus.\u201d Despite the numerous letters to the editors expressing their abhorrence of the editorial, the Choragos <\/em>staff defended their right to publish such articles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Image
Smut on Campus, The National Observer, January 20, 1969.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"January
Letter written by editor-in-chief Julie Van Camp responding to criticism of “obscene” words in Choragos, January 29, 1969.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a>, class of 1969, managing editor of Choragos<\/em>, 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.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u201cchoragos\u201d refers to the leader of a Greek chorus, reflecting Van Camp\u2019s vision of the newspaper being an active force for change on campus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2199,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/page-nosidebar.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-51","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230,"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/51\/revisions\/230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.mtholyoke.edu\/mhcnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}