"The Virginian" Yearbook to Return to Longwood in 2010

In the April 22, 2009 meeting, the Student Government Association (SGA) voted to bring back the school yearbook The Virginian. The book, which encountered many problems in the past, now has a new editorial staff and publisher on board.

Over the summer, SGA President Caitlin Revene and Vice- President Stephen Lee had a meeting with the old publisher Herff Jones. The yearbook that had been worked on was never produced. There was a lack of leadership and accountability. There were a lot of people saying they were getting their stuff done when they were not.

"When I came in 2005 we were supposed to put a yearbook out that year. What happened was the team fell apart and basically the Editor in Chief was left to put the yearbook out on his own. He also was a SGA member and a lot of personality issues were tied up in the yearbook issue. There were all kinds of logistical problems. Eventually a 2005-2007 book was put out, and it was missing lots of information," explained Dr. Ramesh Rao, who is a potential advisor for the The Virginian.

"When I came to Longwood I found out we did not have a yearbook. It was a big part of my life in high school and I couldn't image not doing it now," said freshman Kae Poe, who will serve as the editor-in-chief of the book.

The yearbook is going with a new publisher now. Jostens is a much friendly website and some of the staff are on a personal basis with the representatives since they worked with him in high school. Jostens does all their work on the computer. With this system organizations can go in an upload pictures. Then the yearbook staff can retrieve those photos and place them and do layout, all from their own laptops in their dorm rooms. All they need is java script on their computer. "It will be more of a social book, with pictures from Oktoberfest, spring weekend, Greek week and other signature events" explained SGA president-elect Cameron Patterson. The new yearbook is going to be a size seven yearbook, at about 120 pages. . There will not be any sort of portrait in this yearbook. The initial order will be 600 books, but Jostens allows the school to cut back on that number if it appears Longwood cannot sell that many. "We are going for a smaller book. I don't want to put my name on something I cannot be proud of," said Poe. A down payment of $8,000 will be put down in November, and at the end of the year it will cost $20,000. It will come out to about $37.50 per book per student.

"I believe that one of the major problems that The Virginian had in the past three years was a lack of enthusiasm for a yearbook. In the past people were put in charge of yearbook that didn't really care about it," said Lee. Lee feels that that new staff is more determined. Poe, along with freshmen Michelle Fowler and John Cunningham, were all present at the presentation to the SGA. Poe will serve as Editor in Chief, Fowler will serve as assistant editor and Cunningham will serve as assistant business manager. Lee set an initial goal to get five more people involved, and the staff found twelve.

Poe is determined to not let any issues of popularity play into the book. "In a picture that has four people or less each person has to have their name in the caption. A person cannot have more than two photos like that. Basically there is a two-photo max for pictures focused on one person," said Poe.

"I think yearbook offers the opportunity for journalists and other students to use their skills. I have heard that yearbooks are going out of fashion, and this new team needs to work hard. This is very important. This cannot be a one-year kind of thing. The students across four years need to pass on leadership so the yearbook can become sustainable," said Rao

Poe encouraged anyone who is interested to join the Facebook group "Become a member of Longwood Yearbook" She also offered people to message her on Facebook at Kae Poe or email her at kelsey.poe@live.longwood.edu. "We are looking for energetic people who have a passion. If you are into business, graphic design, art, photography, or if you think you have any sort of skill that could be useful, let us know," said Poe.