After going through The Prairie’s archive I realized that we have a long history as the student newspaper. We have gone through so many changes, from The Prairie in 1919 to the “West Texan” during the 1960s. We went from a black and white newspaper to a colorful magazine. There was so much to read and see, so much history to be discovered. As I flipped the pages, I realized that our archives record the past, the present, and soon the future of WTAMU.

I questioned myself and thought…what would we be without the past? What would the Prairie be without the past? And that is when I understood: we are what we are because of the past. Why not remember previous years and celebrate them? Celebrate our development and our evolution. Celebrate what we are and what we will be.

That is what the Prairie is all about this semester: Commemorating our establishment in 1919 and remembering the past without forgetting the future. A future in which we will be better than ever. A future in which we will be closer to you, the readers.

When I talk about the future, the first thing that comes to my mind are freshman. They are the ones who that will be here when we graduate and the ones who will improve what we have done. They are the future leaders of WT and that is why we, the Prairie staff, want to dedicate this first edition to all incoming freshmen.

We hope you enjoy this first edition of the Prairie.