Press Matters
One month and two days after Monmouth Junior College opened to students, the first issue of what would become The Outlook rolled off the presses.
Originally titled the Monmouth Junior College Press Publication, the paper was produced by a new student organization that called itself “The Press Club.” The group met for the first time on Dec. 14, 1933, and within eight days had produced Monmouth’s first student newspaper. The issue included accounts of faculty speeches, reports from other recently formed student clubs, a letter from then-dean (later president) Edward G. Schlaefer, and a call for submissions to name the new publication.
When the second issue hit newsstands on Jan. 18, 1934, it had been renamed The Outlook. That issue included stories on newly appointed staff members, a student’s proclamation of MJC’s college spirit, and a report on Monmouth’s first basketball game (a 41–30 win over Middlesex Junior College). Sadly, it did not include a report on who suggested the name The Outlook, nor did it list any of the other names that were considered.
In the 85 years since then, The Outlook has continued to “document the history of this university as it has happened,” says Professor John Morano, the club’s current advisor. “They covered protests on the Great Lawn; they covered Martin Luther King, Jane Fonda, Ralph Nader—anyone who has ever been here has appeared on the pages of The Outlook.” Because of this, says Morano, The Outlook has served—and continues to serve—a vital role at Monmouth.
“We’re the Fourth Estate on this campus,” says Morano. “We say things no one else is going to say. We ask questions that no one is going to ask. That’s our job. Someone has to do that. The newspaper does it.”