The efforts put forth by staff members of Woosterís very own alumni magazine, titled Wooster, have been graciously recognized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. CASE, for short, awarded Wooster a second place medal for Best Alumni Magazine in the category of publications produced by fewer than three fulltime employees.
CASE was first founded in 1974 and currently retains headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is one of the worldís largest nonprofit educational associations that works towards helping its members build stronger relations with their alumni and donors. There are currently 3,400 colleges and universities, primary and secondary independent and international schools involved with CASE.
Although the editorial staff of the magazine is quite small, this doesnít seem to stand in the way of producing valuable and insightful publications. Karol Crosbie, the senior editor of the magazine says, ìA magazine should never have only one editorial ëvoice,í and the challenge of having only a few staff members and a limited freelance budget is to find different voices for the features.” However, one of the ways in which the staff works to avoid this problem is by publishing class notes in every issue. Over one hundred class secretaries work together with each other and other alumni to collect important news, such as births or engagements that are then organized and published into the magazine. These notes are just one of the ways in which Wooster successfully provides a bridge between current students and alumni.
Wooster students are also involved in the process of this publication, by way of editorial assistants. Elizabeth Wardrop, í11, began working as an office assistant the spring of her freshman year. ìMost of the studentís workersí job revolves around editing, writing and compiling the information that alumni send us about their lives.” Wardrop became involved with the magazine after being encouraged by her First-Year Seminar professor, Jimmy Meyer, who is also the assistant editor of the magazine. Wardrop also adds, ìThe editors really do as much as they can to make sure that it is appealing and full of information for the alumni and not just a newsletter.” Past issues have included stories on the renovations of Babcock, the new layout of the Wooster website as well as highlighting alumniís specific Independent Study Projects, information that is all pertinent not only to current students but to alumni and their friends as well.
The first issue of Wooster was published in 1886, making it one of the oldest magazines in the country. Although the publication has undergone many changes to its title,† the overarching goals have remained the same. Crosbie adds to the magazines strength saying ìwhile weíre telling stories, we also address important issues. For example in the summer magazine, we focused on students, faculty and alumni who are working with water, in the feature story ëWorking for H2Oí” Jimmy Meyer, assistant editor of the magazine,† has been with the publication since she moved to Wooster from Cleveland in† 1995. She adds, ìIíve enjoyed watching the magazine evolve over time and under different editors and designers. Each person has their own style, which is reflected in the magazineís appearance and content.”
Wooster is published quarterly and this fallís issue marks Volume 124. You can view the magazineís †issues online at www.woosteralumni.org/magazine.
With the advent of technology robbing different types of print journalism, Crosbie, however, remains optimistic. ìI donít think readers will ever lose their love of holding a beautiful magazine, leafing through the pages, and reading about people and issues they care about. I call it the ëmagazine experienceí and alumni magazines do it well.”