The Dartmouth is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College and America's oldest college newspaper. Originally named the Dartmouth Gazette, the first issue was published on August 27, 1799, under the motto "Here range the world—explore the dense and rare; and view all nature in your elbow chair."
First published by Moses Davis, the newspaper is now published by The Dartmouth, Inc., an independent, nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire. Many alumni of The Dartmouth have gone on to careers in journalism, and several have won Pulitzer Prizes.
About The Dartmouth
The newspaper, commonly known as The D, is the campus's only daily newspaper and is free for students. The Dartmouth publishes Monday through Friday from September to June, except during federal holidays and College vacations. During summer months, the paper publishes on Fridays. During the fall, winter and spring terms, The Dartmouths editorial board publishes a house editorial, the "Verbum Ultimum", in the Friday edition of the paper. The editorial board is composed of the editor-in-chief, executive editors and opinion editors. The offices of The Dartmouth are located on the second floor of Robinson Hall, where over 200 student staff members contribute to the paper weekly either through the editorial or business staffs. The Dartmouth hires new staff at the start of every term.
The Dartmouth is run entirely by undergraduate students, with the publisher serving as the head of the business side and the editor-in-chief serving as the head of the editorial section of the paper. Members of The Dartmouths senior directorate serve year-long terms and each directorate selects the next year's leaders. Both business and editorial directorates transition to new leadership between the winter and spring terms.
On the editorial side, applicants can apply to write for any of the various content sections, which include news, opinion, arts, media, sports, and news magazine "The Mirror". They can also to work on the photography, graphics, design or copyediting staff. Students are asked to submit an application before interviewing with current staff. On the business side, students can apply for the advertising, strategy, communications and marketing, or product development sections. Applicants are asked to submit an application before interviewing with current staff.
The Dartmouth publishes two weekly supplements, "Big Green Sports Weekly" on Mondays and "The Dartmouth Mirror" on Wednesdays.
Special editions are printed for such events as Homecoming weekend, Winter Carnival, Green Key Weekend and Commencement, and a special freshman issue is sent to the homes of all incoming students the summer before matriculation.
During the New Hampshire primary, The Dartmouth is known for its interviews with the presidential candidates.
The Dartmouth maintains its own photo and poster store with pictures in current editions as well as copies of historical front pages, available for purchase.
History
Early years
The Dartmouth was first published in Hanover, New Hampshire, on August 27, 1799, by Moses Davis "on College Plain" under the name the Dartmouth Gazette. "Here range the worldexplore the dense and rare; And view all nature in your elbow chair," Davis wrote in the first issue of the Dartmouth Gazette. In his first column, Davis stressed the necessity of avoiding "personal reflections" while maintaining "impartiality in view".
The first issue contained a request for subscribers throughout the local area to follow the news provided by the Dartmouth Gazette. The newspaper started with revenue from its subscribers. Davis wrote, "The Dartmouth Gazette shall be printed on paper of the present size and quality. The price will be One Dollar and fifty cents per ann. delivered at the Printing-Office. To give the paper a start, 25 cents is required on receipt of the 1st No. and 50 cents, if offered, will not be refused." The size of the first issue measures roughly . A copied image of the first issue hangs framed in the office suites of The Dartmouth.