UA college students launch new journal centered on Southern way of life – The Crimson White

The Office of Student Media is ready to launch Druid, a life-style journal centered on Tuscaloosa and Southern tradition, within the fall. The journal was developed by college students over the spring semester to switch the Nineteen Fifty-Six and Alice magazines, which had been completely suspended by the University for being “unlawful proxies.”

In its mission assertion, the brand new journal guarantees to highlight “the people, places, and traditions that make ripples at The University of Alabama and waves across the state.” 

Alongside a semesterly bodily journal with long-form tales, Druid may have an internet site, a month-to-month e-newsletter and social media presence, permitting for video content material and common protection all through the semester.

Incoming editor-in-chief Hannah Grace Mayfield, a senior majoring in information media who beforehand served as picture editor for Alice Magazine, mentioned that the journal was a brand new alternative to give attention to the better group of Tuscaloosa.

“With a handshake, Druid welcomes readers to our slice of the South,” Mayfield mentioned, referencing the mission assertion of the brand new journal. “We want to show how it is to live in the South and in Tuscaloosa.”

Mayfield mentioned that her expertise with images and classes in management from Alice Magazine and The Crimson White would inform her work with Druid.

Druid will not be supposed to compete with The Crimson White, which focuses extra on University and student-related information, Mayfield mentioned. Instead, Druid covers three classes of content material — artwork, tradition and social connections — with writers and photographers assigned to “illuminating the interesting things that happen in Tuscaloosa.”

Mayfield leads Druid’s inaugural workforce of editors, consisting of Andrew Jáuregui, Oswin Colley and Lila Jane Bonds. The quartet is working by the summer time on shoring up plans for the journal and hiring contributors.

As managing editor, Jáuregui, a senior majoring in public relations, mentioned he needed to set an excellent precedent for the brand new publication, particularly contemplating the lengthy histories of the University’s different scholar media retailers. The Crimson White celebrated its a hundred and thirtieth anniversary in 2024, whereas WVUA celebrated 45 years of broadcasting this spring.

He mentioned the suspension of Alice and Nineteen Fifty-Six confirmed him how rapidly issues can change, encouraging him to create a basis “so stable and rooted that it’s not going anywhere soon.”

Colley, the journal’s artistic director and a sophomore majoring in information media, mentioned that she needed to emphasise the visible medium of magazines by incorporating extra scholar images and graphic design.

“We want it to be something you’re drawn to visually,” Colley mentioned. “I want it to be really professional.”

Contributor applications for Druid’s inaugural version are at the moment open to all college students. Mayfield mentioned that anybody can apply, particularly those that need to “spread their wings when it comes to writing and photography.”“We’ll take anyone who is dedicated and wants to get involved,” Mayfield mentioned.