The Bowdoin Orient

The Bowdoin Orient

In July 1875, the paper published Morituri Salutamus, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Bowdoin Class of 1825, delivered for Bowdoin's 1875 commencement.
Format	Weekly student newspaper
Owner(s)	Bowdoin College
Founded	1871
Language	English
Headquarters	Brunswick, Maine
Website	bowdoinorient.com

The Bowdoin Orient is the student newspaper of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, USA. Established in 1871, the Orient is the oldest continuously-published college weekly in the United States. It was named the second best tabloid-sized college weekly at a Associated Collegiate Press conference in March 2007. In its 2014 college rankings, The Princeton Review named it the 15th best college newspaper; Bowdoin is the smallest school and only liberal arts school to make the list.

The Orient currently has an on-campus print distribution of approximately 2,000, and mails the paper to several hundred paid subscribers, including alumni, parents and other friends of the College. The paper is published each Friday that classes are in session at the presses of the Brunswick Times Record. It is distributed to the dining halls, the library, the student union and various other College buildings, as well as in a number of businesses and restaurants in downtown Brunswick.

The Orient began publishing its content on the Web around 2000. Running on a custom content management system, it was redesigned in 2001; 2004, becoming database-driven; 2009, with a visual overhaul; and 2012. The most recent version is a responsive design intended to work better across all devices, including phones and tablets. To date it has not charged for online access or featured online advertising.

The current mission statement, published in every edition, reads: "The Bowdoin Orient is a student-run weekly publication dedicated to providing news and information relevant to the College community. Editorially independent of the College and its administrators, the Orient pursues such content freely and thoroughly, following professional journalistic standards in writing and reporting. The Orient is committed to serving as an open forum for thoughtful and diverse discussion and debate on issues of interest to the College community."

The Bowdoin Orient was established in 1871 as Bowdoin College's newspaper and literary magazine. Originally issued bi-weekly, it has been a weekly since April 1899. It is considered to be the oldest continuously-published college weekly in the U.S., which means that it has been in publication every academic year that Bowdoin has been in session since it began publishing weekly. (Other college weeklies stopped printing during certain war years.)