’90s Prove Pivotal as The Hoya Goes Online
In fall 1988, The Hoya reached an inflection point. Just a year earlier, the paper had started printing twice a week, a decision that would last until fall 2017, doubling its weekly production and stretching editors’ capacity.
The Hoya had also just moved into the brand-new Leavey Center, barely finished when Georgetown University’s newspaper of record relocated to its Leavey 421 home, as Ed Walters (COL ’92) recounted. Walters, who served as news editor, editor-in-chief and chair of The Hoya, called the 1988-89 school year “difficult and transformative.”
Hoya editors spent the summer of 1988 moving out of their Copley Hall office and into Leavey 421, according to Mary Carroll Johansen (CAS ’88), who served as news editor and managing editor. Other than furniture, the Copley newsroom contained little to pack up except for The Hoya’s “wall of fame” — years worth of clips, cartoons and photos collected by generations of editors.
The move marked a turning point in The Hoya’s history: Merely a decade later, the paper had covered the election and later impeachment of an alumnus and, most importantly, developed thehoya.com. For The Hoya, the 1990s ushered in a new era.
VIEWPOINT: Transitions on a Newly Coed Campus | Bernadette Savard Tramm (CAS ’73)
The Hoya was undergoing its own revolution, too, as women entered the old newsroom in the basement of Copley Hall, eventually leading to my election as the first female editor-in-chief in spring 1972. I was quoted as saying I wanted The Hoya to be the “watchdog of the administration.” Then and now, I believe The Hoya’s role must be to ask questions and keep digging for answers on all aspects of the university’s operations, and to look outward to the world around us, too.
VIEWPOINT: Challenging The Hoya’s Male Culture | Elaine Brousseau (CAS ’73)
The fall of 1969 had seen the first group of women enter the College of Arts and Sciences. There were already women on campus in the School of Nursing, the School of Foreign Service, and the School of Languages and Linguistics, but the College had been a male bastion until the 50 of us arrived. I knew from the first week on campus that I wanted to be involved with The Hoya. I wasn’t brave enough to walk into the office and ask to cover a news story, so I somehow ended up writing headlines. I spent long Sunday nights in the office reading news and sports copy, trying to come up with attention-grabbing heads.
VIEWPOINT: The Hoya Belongs to the Students | Peter Morris (CAS ’74)
The Georgetown Voice began its bold response to the 1960s when it published in March ’69. The Voice wanted to be The Village Voice for Georgetown University and to drag the university — students and administration — to engage the city.
The Hoya chose to engage the university. We didn’t belong to the city. The Hoya belonged to the students.
VIEWPOINT: Taking The Hoya Online | Karen Travers (COL ’00)
To me, 1999 doesn’t feel that long ago, but in digital time, it’s been an eternity. The Hoya now breaks news online 24/7, and readers are pulled in through social media feeds. Twenty-one years ago, we were the pioneers, desperately trying to drum up interest in a site people could maybe only access in the library or the computer lab.
VIEWPOINT: Refocusing as a Digital-First Publication | Toby Hung (COL ’18), Daniel Almeida (MSB ’18)
At our first onboarding event for The Hoya, we remember how a well-known news media professional who then consulted for The Hoya informed us that the only thing we need to know about a journalist’s job is that it is always changing. This was especially evident in 2016.
The Guide Merges Arts, Journalism Over Decades at The Hoya
What started 24 years ago as a way to review the latest movies and albums, attend concerts for free and distract from the busy Georgetown University lifestyle has evolved into a legitimate entertainment publication in itself, with interviews across the years from Hollywood titans like actor Bradley Cooper (COL ’97) and director Danny Boyle.
The section, which today features dozens of staff writers and publishes articles online daily, is a far cry from what it was at its inception in 1996. Yet as The Guide has evolved, its foundational purpose of providing arts and entertainment content to Georgetown has remained true.
Stepping Back, Looking Forward: Hoya Sports Rise in Prominence
Georgetown University sports first rose to prominence in the 1980s with the success of the men’s basketball program, culminating in a national championship trophy in 1984 that elevated the Georgetown athletic department to a nationally recognized program. Thirty years later, The Hoya has seen the 2010s usher in a new era of athletic excellence characterized by two national championships and over 30 Big East titles, pointing to a new decade of promising possibilities.
