Sixty-five years ago, on September 27, 1948, a group of college students published and distributed the inaugural edition of the Seahawk--a 4-page mimeographed newspaper. This was the first student publication for Wilmington College.
The charter staff members stressed the importance of the Seahawk as a current and future asset of Wilmington College:
“We are proud and honored to be able to have published this small paper as the first “SEAHAWK.” We are gratified to know that we have been the beginning of something which we believe will grow with time as Wilmington College grows. We have made a small beginning but nevertheless, have taken the first step.”
In 1969, Wilmington College became the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).
The first Seahawk staff believed that the student newspaper would become an integral part of campus life with the continued support and excitement from the faculty and student body. In order to garner the support and participation of the student body, the Seahawk staff “extend[ed] to the student body an invitation to criticize [their] endeavors and to flail [their] paper as trash if they so desire[d]. But…also an invitation to contribute something useful or something better.” The vision and hopes of the initial Seahawk staff became a reality in 1958 when the Seahawk became a monthly publication.
The Seahawk, September 27, 1948 (PDF)
Digital Seahawk Collection, 1948-1973
