The Carillon - History

History

The Carillon as a student organization has grown and evolved over the years. Before 1962 there existed a variety of campus news outlets in the form of single page letters or smaller broadsheet publications. The names of these papers include The Cricket, The Sparrow and The Forum. The name Carillon (French in origin) was selected in 1962 by a vote of the student body. It moved to change its status from a conventional "top-down" administrative structure in 1975, a shift that was formalized about 15 years later.

During the period of the 1960s The Carillon enjoyed great infamy, labeled as a "red paper" for its strong left wing editorial content. Archives reveal a paper filled with political activism and left wing rhetoric. The Carillon reflected the anti-war sentiment of many American intellectuals who left the U.S. to teach in Canada. The paper also enjoyed seemingly much more lax editorial restrictions, publishing scandalous (at the time) articles and using challenging imagery to provoke students and faculty. One (in)famous cover has the dean of education standing at a podium before a Nazi procession, with the University coat of arms replacing the swastika symbol.

A book has been written, by Prof. James Pitsula of the University of Regina, exploring the political attitudes and activism of the University's students and faculty during the 1960s through extensive research of the pages of the The Carillon. He is in possession of many interesting historical documents including photos, archives and slides. The book is titled New World Dawning: The Sixties At Regina Campus.

During the 1990s The Carillon exceedingly agitated its owner, the University of Regina Students' Union (URSU). The conflict came to a head when the USRU board of directors locked out staff and dismissed the Editor in Chief under dubious circumstances. This led to The Carillon seeking autonomy under the Saskatchewan Non-Profit Corporations Act. The Carillon was assisted in its autonomy efforts by the Canadian University Press of which it is a member.

Up to 2002 The Carillon was an organization that ran fast and loose under the non-profit act. Reflected in its left wing roots are the powers granted to the collective. The collective consists of all students currently registered at the University of Regina. While the collective did not direct the day to day operations of the newspaper it could mandate broad and sweeping changes to the constitution, bylaws, electoral practises etc. Up until 2002 the collective had the power to hire staff members of The Carillon. This created a lot of strain on the organization internally and affected the harmony of day to day operations. One former staff member was quoted as saying "it doesn't matter how good you are, it's a goddamn popularity contest."

During the 2002/03 school year a series of events led to a reorganization of the paper at various levels of operation from the Board of Directors to the line editors. In the wake of a controversial article that was intended to be satirical (some found sexist and offensive) a small, vocal group of student activists protested against the Carillon and attempted to put forward a series of motions at the Annual General Meeting that directed editorial content and dismiss staff members. The motions were ruled out of order (to the frustration of protestors) but the efforts of the protesters changed the organization significantly. Calls for further accountability of the paper and checks and balances on the authority of the Editor in Chief led to a reorganization of the Carillon Board of Directors and a redrafting of the constitution to meet the demands of the activists.

By 2003/04, The Carillon staff would no longer be hired by the collective but by the reformed board of directors. Although this wasn't the intention of protesters, Carilloners involved directly in the operation of the paper foresaw the danger of having a collective body make hiring decisions for specialized roles at the paper (editor, production manager, photographers, financial officers, etc.). The new constitution dictated that the collective would only be allowed to elect members to the Board of Directors. The new Board of Directors were endowed with a series of fiduciary and hiring powers to act as a check on the Editor in Chief. Registered students from any faculty or background can run for a seat on the Board of Directors. As a result the Carillon hiring process is no longer "a goddamn popularity contest" but a streamlined event that judges candidates based on experience and previous involvement at the paper.

Despite the aforementioned electoral changes, The Carillon again became embroiled in controversy in 2006 when an article was published that was deemed by some to encourage sexual harassment. After being pressured to acknowledge that members of its readership had been offended, The Carillon issued a formal apology and retraction of the article.