College Launches Student-Written Blog

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2009

RICHMOND, Ind. — Today Earlham College publicly launched “Life at Earlham,” a blog written entirely by students. The blog is available at pressroom.earlham.edu/content/blogs. The blog also can be accessed via the following RSS feed: feed://pressroom.earlham.edu/taxonomy/term/8/all/feed.

“Life at Earlham” offers reflections on college life from a student’s point-of-view. Topics of posts are wide-ranging and students have been encouraged to submit photos, audio and video along with their written posts. 

In a post introducing the blog to readers, Mark Blackmon, director of media relations, notes, “The blog format allows us the opportunity to share Earlham College with you in a new way. We hope to provide original and genuine voices of Earlham students, writing on unassigned topics of interest to them, in their own individual style to form a broad narrative of a year at the College.”

Blackmon points out that one of the key areas of planning for this project is to focus on hearing authentic voices rather than have topics assigned to student writers. 

“No amount of marketing language could replace the unique experiences of our students,” he says. “We’re letting the students guide us in our storytelling and we’re listening to the old Quaker maxim: ‘proceed as the way opens.’”

Associate Vice President for Public Affairs Karen Roeper says that she’s excited about highlighting student experiences as a part of the College’s public awareness effort. “The student-written blog is a terrific complement to the College’s Web presence. Not only does the blog make a wonderful addition to our online Press Room, Facebook and Twitter pages, but it also gives the student writers real world experience and the chance to be published.”

Students participating in the “Life at Earlham” blog include Hallie Cranos, a senior women’s studies major from Yellow Springs, Ohio; Miriam Dolnick, a senior art and sociology/anthropology major from Chicago; Evan Fackler, a senior English and creative writing major from Shelby, Ohio; Jeffrey Holliday, a senior Chemistry major from Takoma Park, Md., and Piper Lewis, an undeclared sophomore from Seattle.

-EC-

Contact:
Mark Blackmon, director of media relations
765/983-1256 — E-Mail Mark