Looking back and moving forward: Celebrating 90 years of The Beacon
A birthday celebration will be hosted in the newsroom in St. Mary’s April 11
Before Google Docs, Zoom interviews and Slack group chats, a weekly paper called The Beacon, typed and edited on typewriters and then hand cut and pasted for layout, hit the newsstands of the University of Portland’s campus.
On April 12, 1935, the first issue of the University of Portland’s student voice was released, and The Beacon was born.

To celebrate this anniversary, The Beacon staff invites UP community members on April 11 from 12-2 p.m. for cake, drinks and giveaways in the newsroom, located in the St. Mary's Student Center.
Ahead of The Beacon’s birthday, The Beacon spoke to past and current Beaconites about the importance of student media, team camaraderie and milestones from the last 90 years.
Before its current location in St. Mary’s, The Beacon’s newsroom was in the student communications building, which has now been replaced by Franz Hall. The pink, single-story building was the home base for the ideation, writing and publishing processes of The Beacon’s print-issues until 1986.