Amanda Berkson-BrandMills came close to not having a yearbook for 2008. The College will produce The Crest, but those involved with the publication warn that unless more students get involved, the situation may repeat itself.
According to Director of Student Activities Courtney Young-Law, both the 2006 and 2007 yearbooks were produced by only one student, Merri Gordon. When Gordon graduated from Mills in May 2007, no one was available to take her place.
“We attempted to bring in more people with meetings and flyers, but there was never any momentum to offer support,” Young-Law said.
Messages were sent over student-news at the end of the Fall 2007 semester and warned that if no one joined the staff, there would be no yearbook.
Margee Churchon previously worked on her middle school’s yearbook, so she volunteered to be The Crest’s editor in chief this semester.
Churchon blames the lack of student interest in the yearbook on staff turnover. “I think The Crest has become a burden, rather than the fun activity it is,” she said. “If you lose staff, then you have to start from scratch the next year.”
A staff of fourteen students are currently working under Churchon, but she is a senior and will not be able to continue as the editor in chief next year.
The Crest staff will decide on next year’s editor in chief in March. They will also see who is interested in joining staff at that time, according to Young-Law.
Young-Law warns against letting the apathy form again. “Students need to participate in the yearbook to keep it going,” she said.
“Everyone wants for the year to be documented, so each individual student needs to take some personal responsibility for contributing to that.”
Churchon said that the 2008 yearbook will be a matte blue hardback book with the Mills College historic crest in gold.
Young-Law added that this yearbook will be different in that it is smaller than previous entries and will be 88 pages, which is less than previous years.
She also said that non-traditional yearbooks such as a CD or online publication could be a good, cost-effective option, but ASMC voted to continue the hardback book. “They felt students wanted that,” she said.
Senior Sarah Berman agrees. “I think people would prefer hardbacks because people want to keep them.”
She added that an online yearbook might also work because she says it is easily accessible and would not waste materials.
Churchon said that she is thankful for the photos she has received, but said that they are not enough. “We’re still doing a big picture scavenger hunt. We need a few hundred pictures, and we only have a few dozen.”
Any photo submissions should be sent to wantonfrolicking@gmail.com. The Mills College yearbook also has a facebook profile online .
