Groups of students have published in print a wide variety of literary magazines, magazines with news, and newspapers geared to general or limited audiences funded by the institution, an organized group, or a loosely organized confederation of students. This listing—an attempt to cover institutionally approved printed publications and a representative sample of other student publication efforts—is not exhaustive.
1841: The first student publication that contained literary efforts and news was the University Magazine, published monthly from 1841 to 1843 by the senior class. A peculiar characteristic of this publication was that authors of the articles signed their initials or a Greek letter instead of their names.
1871: The University-Times Prospectus was published, dying after one issue.
1875: The two literary societies, Chi Delta and Philomathesian, jointly published the University Monthly from 1875 to 1878.
1881: Following the cessation of the University Monthly, the two literary societies each produced a monthly publication. (The Chi-Delta Crescent was first published in October 1881 under the leadership of J. C. R. McCall; the Philo Star debuted in January 1882, with Philander P. Claxton as editor.) The literary societies were required by the faculty to cease publication of the papers during the school year 1884–85. Although the Crescent was bankrupt, the reason for failure of the faculty to approve the publications was related to control of the content of the papers. Although the faculty had indicated that they would approve publication of only one all-student paper, in November 1885 they allowed the Crescent to resume publication on the condition that all matter to be published be first submitted to the faculty for approval. (The Philo Star began publishing again a month later.) In 1887 Charles Dabney, the new UT president, induced the faculty to withhold permission for the separate publication of literary society magazines by Chi Delta and Philomathesian.
1883: In 1883 UT was embroiled in an acrimonious conflict about censorship and propriety in the campus press. Two “underground” publications appeared. The Weekly Bulletin, hand lettered and nailed to the wall of the chapel, was “An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Art” devoted to “the reformation of abuses in the U of T.” It was published for 10 issues. The University Patriot, a similarly inspired publication that appeared on March 1, 1883, may or may not have had succeeding issues.
1888: In December 1888 the two literary societies cooperated in publishing an all-student periodical, the Tennessee University Student. The University Student is believed to be the first college publication in the United States to send free copies to reading rooms around the country. Yale and Harvard followed this example the next year. Six issues of the 7-inch by 10-inch publication containing 20 pages of literary material and 5 or 6 of advertisements, bound in a plain brown cover, were published in 1888. The name of the magazine was changed to Tennessee University Magazine in 1893, and the first “vacation issue” was published in 1894. Its name was again changed, to the University of Tennessee Magazine, in 1912.
1890s: The Barbara Blount Literary Society published the Comet, and, briefly, its journal the Barbarian.
1900: The Orange and White, forerunner of today’s Daily Beacon, appeared in 1900, but it failed after a few weeks. The Orange and White reappeared as the campus newspaper on October 5, 1906, with James H. Richmond as the first editor, publishing weekly (on Friday) while the university was in session. When the Holston-Union bank failed in 1930, the Publications Board money on deposit was lost, and the Orange and White’s plans to move to a twice-weekly publication schedule were cancelled. It began publishing twice a week (Wednesdays and Fridays) in 1938. It became the Daily Beacon in 1965.
1902: The Summer School Spectator was published during the Summer School of the South 1902–11, ceasing when the university assumed operation of the summer session in 1912.
1906: The U.T. Farmer, a student publication of the Agricultural Club, appeared in October 1906. It did not publish during 1917 and 1918. Its name was changed to the Tennessee Farmer in 1920. The Orange and White reappeared and continued publication until its name was changed to the Daily Beacon in 1965 as it changed to a weekday publication.
1920: The Mugwump, a humor magazine that was started as a replacement for the University of Tennessee Magazine, began publication in 1920 and was published until funding was withdrawn by the administration in 1932.
1923: An underground newspaper, the Independent Truth, appeared for three issues in 1923 in response to various administrative decisions.
1924: Overtones, a collection of lyric poems written by UT students, made its debut in 1924. It was the first publication of undergraduate verse in the South. There were at least three editions of the publication. J. Z. Howard and H. C. Watkins were the editors and originators of the project. The booklet cost 75 cents. The volume did not appear in 1925 but reappeared in 1926.
1925: Tennessee Engineer was first published in 1925 as a two-page pamphlet. It was created by engineering students and contained many student articles, but it also presented articles by outstanding engineers within the profession. It was published continuously through 1965 and currently continues online.
1936: Publication of the Tower, a student literary magazine containing short stories, plays, special articles, art, poetry, and humor, was approved by the UT Publications Council in 1936 and supported financially for one year by the council, upon assurances from the students involved that it was not a revival of the Mugwump, the banned campus humor magazine.
1940: On November 21, 1940, the first issue of a “non-frat” newspaper, Hill Topper, was published by the Non-Fraternity Association as a three-page mimeographed sheet carrying no advertising. Sophomore John Carter from North Carolina was editor in chief. The goal of the paper was to provide more in-depth coverage of non-frat athletics and activities.
1943: In October a slick paper, five-column layout newspaper, Air Scoop, made its debut as the weekly newspaper of the air cadets stationed on campus.
1947: The literary magazine the Tennessean began publication in 1947 as a quarterly magazine but was discontinued in fall 1950 because of its inability to be self-supporting.
1951: Fraternities published one issue of the Tennessee Shootin’ Iron in 1951, and the magazine was quashed by its lack of approval by the Publications Board.
1953: The UT-Administrative Council declined to approve publication of the Tenn-Pen in early 1953, and the Publications Council refused to approve publication of a proposed humor magazine, the White Mule.
1959: In May 1959 a literary magazine to be called either the Unicorn or the Opus was announced but did not appear. The Phoenix literary magazine was first published in 1959 as a supplement to the Orange and White (although it has tended to trace its beginnings to the early University of Tennessee Magazine).
1965: The Orange and White became the Daily Beacon in April 1965, with assumption of daily publication during the week.
1968: The Paperbag literary magazine made its debut in 1968, funded in part with $200 appropriated by the Student Government Association, but it did not persevere.
1969: Druid, a campus humanities magazine, began a brief period of publication in 1969.
1996: In 1996, with a small grant from the English Department, Aurora, a literary magazine with the goal of being “an organ to express the non-elitist voice of UT students” had its genesis in the nonfiction writing classes of English Assistant Professor Radi Voss. UT students and Professor Voss published the magazine, although it was not UT-affiliated. The magazine was to be published each semester but had a very short run.
1999: The Peeler was a short-lived monthly newspaper first published in August 1999, operating independently from UT.
2005: The Weekly Hangover was an alternative, irreverent, satirical publication that appeared in 2005. It was active on Facebook and Twitter and ceased distribution in 2010.
2012: The Tangerine, a satirical and humorous student publication was distributed every other Friday. Its editor in chief was Judd Cowan. The Tangerine used Photoshop extensively in its blog and also made use of Facebook and Twitter. It characterized itself in the following way: “The Tangerine is The University of Tennessee’s healthiest on-campus option for satirical humor. Organically grown and high in Vitamin C (the C stands for Cynicism), The Tangerine has been delivering a healthy dose of levity to the student body since 2012—taking on topics of campus-wide, national, and most often no importance.”