Varsity (newspaper)
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| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner(s) | Varsity Publications Ltd |
| Editor | Millie Brierley |
| Founded | 1931 |
| Headquarters | 16 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX |
| Circulation | Up to 10,000 |
| ISSN | 1758-4442 |
| Website | www.varsity.co.uk |
Varsity is the oldest of Cambridge University's main student newspapers. It has been published continuously since 1947, and is one of only three fully independent student newspapers in the UK. It is published every Friday during the University of Cambridge's term time, moving back to being a weekly publication in Michaelmas 2015 after three years as a fortnightly publication since Michaelmas 2012.
In November 2009, the paper won six prizes at the Guardian Student Media Awards, was nominated for a further two, and former editor Patrick Kingsley was named Student Journalist of the Year.
Varsity is one of Britain's oldest student newspapers. Its first edition was published in 1931 as Varsity: the Cambridge University Illustrated (later The Varsity Weekly, and then the Cambridge Varsity Post). However, the first few years saw Varsity get off to a shaky start. In 1932 controversy about some of the stories resulted in the editor being challenged to a duel, and the following year the paper went bankrupt with losses of £100.
A variety of attempts to revive Varsity led to the paper resurfacing periodically over the following decade, but it was not until 1947 that the paper was re-established permanently in its current form. Harry Newman Jr (1921–2001), a graduate from Harvard and the Harvard Business School, then studying for a postgraduate degree at St John's College, Cambridge, decided that Cambridge needed a proper American-style campus newspaper modeled on the Crimson. 'Varsity', the name of an obsolete publication, was used due to a post-war ration on newsprint. Only publications that had existed before the War could be allocated paper. On 19 April 1947 Varsity reappeared again, with the first issue headlining the coming visit of the then Princess Elizabeth to the University. Unfortunately the visit never took place.
In a letter published in Varsity at the end of the year 1971-2, Harry Newman wrote, "Varsity began over a bottle of sherry in John's, matured over a bottle of port in Caius and blossomed with a firkin of ale over the Victoria Cinema, where we pecked out the first issue on trestle tables (without chairs).
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