Get Involved

Commitment

• Write just one article total or one per issue

• Attend one meeting a week, or stay in the office past midnight every production night

Mentoring & Alumni

• We have a strong, growing alumni network, and former StudLifers often return to campus to lead workshops. Our alumni work at prestigious publications across the country, including:

What does it mean to join StudLife?

• All students are welcome, no journalism background necessary!
• You can pick your level of commitment: some staff members write an article each week and some staff members write once per semester. Any level of engagement is appreciated.
• We accept new contributors year-round!

We cover anything and everything, in many formats!

We have four sections of the paper, but in addition to writers, we are always looking for social media contributors, photographers, graphic designers, cartoonists, videographers, podcasters, copy editors and more!

1. News covers anything happening on campus that we think students should know about or anything that requires a deeper dive.
2. Sports includes game recaps, opinions about national sports teams, team features and more.
3. Scene is our features section, covering anything from unique students and clubs to cool places and experiences that deserve more attention.
4. Forum is our opinion section, which can range from thoughts about the student body, politics, the WashU administration and everyday experiences on campus.

You can attend weekly production nights in our very own office

Every Wednesday night, you can come to our office (located on the 3rd floor of the DUC) to ask questions about working on the paper, help out with copy editing and design or just come hang out with other staff members!

You can take ownership of your work and start your own projects

There’s always a lot of leadership opportunities for students of all years—we’ve had many freshmen and sophomores take on staff editor positions in the past.

If there’s a specific project or initiative you want to start, there will definitely be a place for it on StudLife, and you’ll have several editors there to guide you through the process!

Join a growing community right at the start of your time at WashU

There are currently 26 editors and many other staff contributors who can’t wait to meet you!

We will be hosting several social events throughout the year.

We aim to have a combination of (masked) in-person and virtual events so that everyone can participate within their personal comfort zones.

Section Meetings

All meetings occur weekly in the StudLife office (DUC third floor.)

Scene - Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

Sports - Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.

News - Monday at 5:30 p.m.

Photo - Friday at 2:00 p.m.

Multimedia - Thursday at 5:00 p.m.

Social media - Monday at 6:30 p.m.

Illustration - Friday at 4:00 p.m.

Copy - Tuesday at 3:00 p.m.

Design - Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

Forum - Monday at 7:00 p.m.

FAQ

1. How often does the paper come out?

In the past, we published two print issues per week, on Mondays and Thursdays. In March 2020, we temporarily transitioned to online-only content five days per week. During the 2020-21 school year, we began to produce one print issue per week on Thursdays while still uploading articles to the website and sending out an email edition five days per week.

2. How does production night work? How does the paper get made?

Essentially, production night is when we take all of the articles and visuals that staff members have been working on all week and putting it all together into a print newspaper. We spend the night editing articles and designing the layout before sending the completed PDF to the printer so that all of the papers are ready to be distributed by the next morning.

3. What does it mean to be an independent newspaper?

Since StudLife is an independent newspaper, all of our editorial decisions are made without input from WashU.

4. When does StudLife meet?

While our production nights are on Wednesdays, we hold meetings for students interested in contributing to different sections of the paper throughout the week at different times. For example, if you wish to write for Scene and Forum, you would attend a Scene meeting and a Forum meeting, led by the editors of those respective sections.

5. Where is the StudLife office?

It is located on the third floor of the DUC! The stairwell to the third floor is located near the Fun Room help desk.