Southeast Missouri State University's student newspaper turning 100

With a story on an oratory contest and a single photo gracing its front page, the first edition of the Capaha Arrow might not have been the stuff of legendary journalism.

"It's pretty boring," Arrow student editor Dan Fox said. "All the photographs are right out of the yearbook, and one of the front-page stories is about farming."

A century after that inaugural edition Feb. 1, 1911, Southeast Missouri State University's Capaha Arrow -- now simply the Arrow -- is one of the longest-standing student newspapers in the country.

"It's fair to say we're one of the oldest, and it feels like a great heritage," said Sam Blackwell, now in his third year as Arrow adviser.

The newspaper will celebrate its 100th anniversary in a special edition, set to publish Thursday. It will include stories from past editions and previous Arrow staff members, a photo page and a special op-ed about the evolution of the Arrow through the years.

Rush H. Limbaugh Sr., grandfather of radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, was among the original Arrow staff members, serving as the newspaper's second editor in the 1911-1912 school year. Limbaugh Sr. was recognized at the time of his death at age 104 in 1996 as the oldest practicing lawyer in the United States, and the federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau bears his name.

"The paper was a fine experience," Limbaugh said in February 1986, during the Arrow's diamond jubilee celebration. "When we began publication for the Capaha Arrow, we had a number of students who helped establish the paper."

Limbaugh made that first front page in 1911. He was in the story about a college speech contest in which he earned second place for his discussion on the perils of American politics.

On the list of Arrow notables is the late Harold Grauel, longtime Southeast Missouri State English professor. He was Capaha Arrow adviser from 1934 to 1937, when the newspaper moved from a cluttered, one-room office into more spacious accommodations in Academic Hall.

Grauel's name remains connected to the Arrow. Last year, the newspaper moved from its closed quarters in a campus house into the Grauel Building, named after the professor.

The newspaper has touched the lives of thousands of journalism students over the years, serving as the training grounds for a number of prominent print and electronic news reporters. Kimberly Speight Nordyke, from the Hollywood Reporter, and Chris Stanfield, now with Turner Broadcasting, are among Arrow alumni.

"I look on my experience with the Arrow as an experience I would have to number among the most important things that have happened to me," said Fred B. Goodwin, then-dean of Southeast's College of Humanities, in a Feb. 6, 1986, article in the Southeast Missourian.

Karie Hollerbach ranks her days at the old Capaha Arrow among her top five experiences. Hollerbach, now associate professor in Southeast's Department of Mass Media, served as reporter, managing editor and editor of the newspaper in the late 1980s. In 1989, the newspaper earned 19 Missouri College Newspaper Association awards, including newspaper of the year. Hollerbach, Karie Hall at the time, took home the journalist of the year award.

"I met so many wonderful people, people all across campus," she said, including the Southeast Missourian's Brad Hollerbach, a student columnist at the time who would eventually become her husband.

Like newspapers everywhere, the Arrow is confronted with the changing tastes of readers as it adapts to the digital age. Blackwell said today's young journalists face a rapidly evolving media world.

"It's not rock-solid footing we're putting our journalists out into anymore," he said. "No one knows what the newspaper of the future is going to look like, but we are preparing them the best we can for that world."

While focused on Southeast students, the Arrow reports on community news because, as Blackwell puts it, the university's students live in Cape Girardeau, too.

As the Arrow's newest editor, Fox embraces the newspaper's legacy and its future.

"You get a feeling of fulfillment knowing you're apart of something that's been around that long," Fox said. "Other newspapers start up for a couple of years and die off. The Arrow has been sticking around for a long time."

mkittle@semissourian.com

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