By Jack Houvouras
HQ 122 | SUMMER 2023
This year, Marshall University’s student newspaper The Parthenon is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Established in 1898, it is one of the oldest college newspapers in America. The anniversary is particularly meaningful to me because working for the paper in college was a turning point in my life.
I remember writing my first article for The Parthenon in 1986. The next morning, I headed to campus at 7 a.m. to grab a copy of the paper fresh off the press to see my name in print. After that I was hooked. The next day I declared my major in journalism. I worked my way up the ranks of the newspaper, paid my dues and was ultimately named editor for the summer of 1988. It has been 30 years since I served as the editor of The Parthenon, and earning that title remains one of the proudest achievements in my life. That’s because over those years the paper has garnered a bevy of national awards and produced some of the nation’s most respected journalists and media executives, including two Pulitzer Prize winners. There were some very big names that came before me, and I was cognizant of that from the start.
Some highlights from my time as editor included scooping The Herald-Dispatch when West Virginia House Speaker Chuck Chambers announced in our paper his plan to build a horseshoe-style football stadium for Marshall University on the site of the Superblock (today occupied by Pullman Square). The open end of the proposed stadium would face the Ohio River. It was an innovative idea, but school officials ultimately opted to build the facility closer to campus.
In addition, that summer was particularly hot, and my staff and I began asking why. What resulted was an in-depth piece titled “The Long Hot Summer,” where we examined global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and more. We even used the journalism school’s newly acquired Macintosh computers to produce a graphic of the hole in the ozone layer. That was some pretty cutting-edge material to cover back in 1988.
My tenure as editor of The Parthenon will always be one of my fondest memories for several reasons. First, I truly enjoyed the teamwork, collaboration and camaraderie that the job afforded. I had the opportunity to work with some extremely talented individuals, including Production Manager Mike Friel (one of the most creative and gifted people I know), Managing Editor Vina Hutchinson, Advisor Betsy Cook and two faculty members who stopped by to check on us: Dr. George Arnold and Dr. Ralph Turner. Both professors were legends on campus, and earning their respect was a very big deal.
What I relished most about the role of editor was overseeing the entire creative process: the writing, research, editing, photography, graphic design and printing. When the newspaper came out, nothing equaled the reward of seeing the finished product.
After completing my three-month stint as editor, I headed off to law school. However, it wasn’t long before I realized how much I missed the creative work involved in publishing. As such, I left law school after one semester, returned to Huntington and began plans to launch a local magazine. A year later, the premier edition of HQ was released. If not for the tremendous education I received at Marshall University’s School of Journalism and my invaluable experience as editor of The Parthenon, I don’t know where I would be today. Those years set in motion a publishing career that has been incredibly fulfilling, and for that I will always be grateful.
