On page 74 of the 1940 Pasticcio, the yearbook of Clark University, a photograph shows three rows of smartly dressed young men — all in suits, with some sporting a bow tie instead of a standard necktie. At the time, none of them knew that a future Pulitzer Prize winner sat in the front row.
The staff of The Scarlet, the newly renamed student newspaper, was led by Ben Bagdikian ’41, a future editor of The Washington Post who traveled to Boston in 1972 to obtain the Pentagon Papers from whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
Renaming the paper, which had been known as the Clark News, was not a move favored by the University’s administration because of the ongoing “red scare” of communism. Despite this, the first issue of the renamed newspaper was published on November 3, 1939.
The Pasticcio’s editors — including Albert Southwick ’41, who also served as managing editor of The Scarlet — explained more in the excerpt below.
“On October 27, 1939, the last issue of the Clark News was stuffed into the student and faculty mailboxes. Henceforth the university paper was to be known as The Scarlet, much to the mingled surprise, dismay, and gratification of the college. The reasons for the change were few but important. Besides better reflecting the new spirit, it helped to bury a number of dead cats and seal up a couple of skeletons in the closet. And The Scarlet, despite its deprecators, has taken strides that were beyond the scope of the old News. Most spectacular has been the rise in circulation from 400 to 550, and the work of a highly alert business staff that has raised the amount of paid advertisements 160%.
“The content of the paper has been changed considerably. Weekly features, covering everything from the activities of the janitor to a Homer and Sargent exhibition at the Art Museum, a new, brilliant ‘Tomorrow is a Rose’ column, and even a corner of humorous poetry, have enlivened accounts of campus events. The editorial column has maintained a policy of progressive conservatism.”
