Student Newspapers Collection

The Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) student newspaper went through several incarnations before it became The Echo in 1955.

The oldest surviving student "newspaper" dates from October 16, 1931. However, the masthead indicates that this was the first issue of the eighth volume of Dee N Ess (phonetic spelling for "DNS" -Danbury Normal School) and was a mimeographed publication more akin to a newsletter. It may be that the first issues were published in the early 1920s. The publication contained campus news, student writings (essays and poetry primarily), comics, and artwork. In 1936, the Danbury Normal School became the Danbury Teachers' College. The newspaper reflected the changes taking place at the school by changing its name in the fall of 1936. Dee Tee Cee continued Dee N Ess. In 1941, the name changed again to Campus Crier. The Archives does not have any copies of newspapers from 1942 through the spring of 1944. This may be due to the fact that student organizations curtailed their activities during the war years. In March of 1944, the student newspaper reemerged, this time under the name: The Inkling. The Inkling took on a more professional look, was typeset and contained photographs.

In 1948 when the college adopted a new constitution and emerged as the Danbury State Teachers' College, the student paper repositioned itself again as The Courier. This was another step toward becoming a more professional publication and, for a while, it even adopted the more traditional newspaper-style tabloid format. However, The Courier evolved into a more literary publication and in the spring of 1953 a group of students started publishing a second newspaper, The Supplement . It operated as a more informal but carried on with more student-newspaper-like content than The Courier.

In 1955 The Supplement took on a new and enduring moniker: The Echo. From November 23, 1955 to the present, this has been the primary student newspaper for the university.