The Varsitarian

Frontpage of December 2008 issue of The Varsitarian
Type	Student Publication
Format	Broadsheet
Owner(s)	University of Santo Tomas
Founded	January 16, 1928 (1928-01-16)
Headquarters	University of Santo Tomas, España Boulevard, Manila
Circulation	25,000 copies per issue
Website	www.varsitarian.net

The Varsitarian (Varsi, The V, or V) is the official student publication of the University of Santo Tomas (UST). Founded in January 1928 by a group of students led by Jose Villa Panganiban, it is one of the first student newspapers in the Philippines. It is published fortnightly. The lampoon issue is called The Vuisitarian. Tomas U. Santos, the mascot of the Varsitarian, is a Thomasian who represents the students of the campus. He is usually seen accompanied by a talking, and quite cynical, T-square.

Aside from publishing the school paper, the Varsitarian holds the Inkblots national campus journalism fellowship, hosts the Cinevita Film Festival, and organizes the Pautakan, the longest-running campus-based quiz contest in the Philippines. It also organizes Ustetika, the country's longest-running university-based literary competition, and the Creative Writing Workshop, which celebrated its 10th year in 2014.

The Varsitarian also publishes other editorial supplements such as Montage, Tomasino, Breaktime, Amihan, and Botomasino.

The first issue of the Varsitarian came off the press on January 16, 1928, with Pablo Anido as the first editor in chief. However, the title of the "father of the Varsitarian" is given to Jose Villa Panganiban, who managed the day-to-day operations of the school paper. The other founders included Elizabeth C. Bowers and Olimpia Baltazar, a granddaughter of poet Francisco Baltazar. The paper cost 10 centavos, and was bought by 426 people out of a possible 2,000 students.

The Varsitarian co-founded the College Editors Guild of the Philippines on July 25, 1931 along with The GUIDON of the Ateneo de Manila, The Philippine Collegian of the University of the Philippines Diliman and The National of National University (Philippines).

Previously limited on publishing articles on university issues, the Varsitarian started reporting on national issues as well during the 1960s and 1970s.