Gauntlet (newspaper) - History

History

• 1960: The Gauntlet is founded by Maurice Yacowar, replacing the existing CalVar one-sheet, publishing its first issue on September 28, 1960. Despite Yacowar wanting to name the paper himself, the Students' Union insisted it be up to students and proposed a contest. All entries in the contest were submitted by Yacowar, who ended up naming the paper "The Gauntlet" anyway.
• 1961: Yacowar removed as editor by Students' Union in February over a story in the literary supplement containing the line, "He came into her, and it was good." In April, new Gauntlet editor Alan Arthur starts the U of C's Bermuda Shorts Day tradition after writing "Wear shorts tomorrow" on a chalkboard. (This event, now coordinated by the Students' Union, now consists of an outdoor party on the last day of lectures each April with live music and beer gardens, and is still an annual tradition over 50 years later.)
• 1969 & 1974: During both these years, the Gauntlet is shut down by the Students' Union over editorial content issues and replaced with a substitute paper, the Medium. Both times, there was significant overlap between the staff of both publications and subsequently the Medium was replaced by the Gauntlet by the beginning of the next school years.
• 1978: The Gauntlet achieves autonomy from the Students' Union.
• 2004: The Gauntlet comes under fire for publishing a nude photo as part of Sexual Awareness Week coverage.