Southern Memories Yearbook Canceled

 The Southern Memories yearbook for the 2022-2023 school year has been canceled, according to Kari Shultz, director of Student Life and Activities. The decision was made after no one applied for the position over the summer, Shultz said. 

According to Deyse Bravo, director of McKee Library, this is the first time the yearbook has been canceled since it was coined Southern Memories in 1945.

Although Southern lowers the number of yearbooks ordered almost every year, there are still boxes left over, according to Shultz.

Student Association President Kenneth Bautista stated that the decision to not have Memories was a difficult one, but promising changes are in the works. 

“It’s a positive thing. We don’t have a physical yearbook, but it’s an experiment. A lot of universities are moving towards having an online presence,” Bautista said. “And last year almost half of our yearbooks were still in storage and haven’t been picked up by students.”

According to Bautista, it may have been possible to find a Memories editor, but without applicants, picking the right person proved challenging. 

“Are we going to pick someone impulsively or are we going to pick the right person? We had no applicants,” Bautista said. “We would pretty much be begging people to join a job they might not want to do in the first place, and we feel like quality really matters for the team.”

Plans are being made to provide a digital option for a yearbook replacement, according to Shultz and Bautista. Ideas include using the online platform Flickr to share photos from events on campus.

“What we’re going to do instead [of a yearbook] is have an online Flickr from all of our events so that students can look at our welcome party and see professional photos, and they can download it and upload it to their Instagram,” Bautista said. 

The Memories funds have been redirected to SA events, such as International Food Fest and providing financial backing for the addition of a second 423 Night, according to Bautista. Some funds have also gone to the Accent.

“It’s going into boosting our events on campus. For example, more money is going into International Food Fest –everything is going back to students –- [as well as] helping provide the $50 per vendor for 423 Nights,” said Bautista. “A lot of it is going into making our events bigger and better.”

 Although Southern will not have a traditional yearbook this year, Shultz stressed the importance of senior portraits. 

“One thing I don’t want to happen, though, is to impact the seniors coming in to get yearbook photos, senior photos, because they start next week,” Shultz said. 

Administration is open to bringing Memories back in the future if it is something the students want and if an editor applies, Shultz added.

“I understand the value of something physical. But, at the same time, that isn’t something we could do this year,” Bautista said. “And so, I think this is our best alternative, and I think we could significantly make our events better with the money we used for the yearbook.”