By Paul A. Djupe (and by proxy Oliver Gladfelter, Abby Zofchak, Nathaniel Nakon, Katie Elia, and Logan Mallory)

About a year ago I put up 127 in a fit of public spiritedness and hope for the coming year. So, I thought it was time for a bit of a retrospective on its first year of life. I have a lot of feelz about what we were able to accomplish this year, which I think is an awful lot. People talk about 127 and I think our authors are recognized for their contributions. I don’t mean that just from students’ perspective, as some faculty and administrators notice, and there are data-driven alums who pay attention as well. 127 is a showcase for authors’ talent.

From my point of view, 127 has started, furthered, and grounded some important campus conversations. Campuses, like all publics, are prone to fear and misinformation and governing based on anecdote. No way can we say that we resolved that, but at least 127 is a reservoir of reliable information about ideology on campus, inclusion, partying, discrimination, class attendance, political activism, sleeping, etc. There are holes to be filled, to be sure, but we have presented a very clear view of what Denison is up to that can enable better, more informed decision making.

We graduated our first set of writers, who I already miss dearly. Without Whip and A-to-Z, we wouldn’t have the reach or voice that we’ve been able to achieve.

Here are some stats for our inaugural year (these are from blog data).

Year ONE Statistics (from the blog)

Thanks for joining us on this venture. We have a lot planned for the coming year, including some upgrades to the interface (possibly). If you’re interested in writing for 127, please contact me at djupe@denison.edu. If you have comments, please make them on the FB page: https://www.facebook.com/127DU/ .