The Last Cowl of the Decade: Carrying an 84-Year Tradition into 2020

by The Cowl Editor on December 5, 2019


Editor's Column


by Katherine Torok ’20

Associate Editor-in-Chief

It is tradition in the Cowl office to hang up each issue’s front page on top of the previous year’s. Thus, when Kerry and I stepped foot in the office in August, we saw a wall filled entirely of 2018-2019 front pages. 

However, as the semester went on, we slowly hung up our front pages week after week. Now, our issues fill nearly half of the wall.

This is our 12th issue: the final issue of the semester and of the decade.

In preparation for the final Cowl of this decade, I decided to take a look through both the first one of this decade, and the first Cowl ever.

The first Cowl from November 16, 1935 was a mere six pages long and included articles about the football team, the new dalmatian mascot known as ‘Friar of What Ho,’ and the new football scoreboard donated by Friars Club. 

The first issue of the decade was published on January 28, 2010. Headlines included the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, the season finale of Jersey Shore, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, and the men’s basketball team defeating the University of Connecticut in a Big East matchup. It also was a whopping 32 pages long, much longer than the average paper we publish now.

Yet, The Cowl will always be The Cowl regardless of what year or decade it is.

I am nervous going into 2020 for a variety of reasons—such as graduation and the presidential election. Nevertheless, I am proud to be ending the decade with this issue.

Throughout this entire semester, I have constantly been blown away by the content our amazing writers, editors, and photographers have produced weekly. 

As nerve-wracking as 2020 seems, I am also honored and excited to help document the first events of the decade.

While the future is unknown, I am confident that The Cowl will continue to serve as “Providence College’s Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935,” and strive to put out incredible content every week.