By: Clint Jones
Southern Adventist University is facing the possibility of not producing a Memories yearbook for the 2025–2026 school year. This marks the second time in the history of the yearbook that the university may not have one.
This news comes after the inability to find a student to lead the yearbook team for this school year.
According to Andrew Boggess, yearbook editor for the 2024-2025 school year, setting up the yearbook was ‘kind of a mess from the previous school year.’ This was in reference to Memories not being produced the previous year, when the effects of the absence of a yearbook were still felt.
Boggess said working as an editor requires meeting with club leaders, finding staff members, and organizing times with every academic department.
When trying to find records of previous club officers, the yearbook may be one of the only places that records of membership can easily be found.
While the university may not be able to provide a yearbook, other options could be offered.
In the 2022-2023 school year, the university provided yearbook alternatives such as memory walls, digital yearbooks and other online options. However, some students have expressed concern about those ideas.
“Ultimately, you can’t always rely on the internet to be there,” said Emily Livergood, a junior art major.
The funds for the yearbook could be allocated back into other Student Association projects, similar to what happened in the 2023-2024 school year. Despite not having a physical yearbook, SA was able to use the money for events like International Food Night and 423 Market.
Livergood explained that there may be difficulty in finding staff for the yearbook due to low pay or it simply not being a priority in some students’ minds.
Boggess and Livergood expressed concerns about the lack of a yearbook this school year. Both parties suggested that having an alternative would be better than producing nothing at all.
“Our students should care about the legacy that they have at our institution,” said Boggess.
While some have voiced their desire to have a yearbook, other students have pointed out the benefit of its absence.
“Half the time people forget about getting the yearbook at the end of the year,” said Daisy Morgan, a junior advertising major. “I think using the funds for more important and popular events could be good.”
“I don’t mind not having a yearbook,” said Sierra Trombley, a junior graphic design major. “As long as they’re using the money to benefit students in other ways, then it seems like a good idea to me.”
Though the yearbook is at risk, Jehiely Balabarca, a senior strategic communication major and Strawberry Fest producer, has proposed a new alternative to combine Memories with Strawberry Fest. According to Balabarca, joining forces with Memories would be more efficient.
“Last year, not many students knew what Strawberry Fest was, and the memories team was asking for pictures from us,” she said. “It was not as useful because there were three main media teams- Memories, Strawberry Fest and the Student Association photographer. There was a lot of waste of space and media.”
On Sept. 8, Balabarca officially sent a request to Student Development via email requesting that the two organizations be combined.
“We can merge two good things- not just the media side but also the paper side,” she said. “The hope is that these two departments work as one in the future.”
The Accent reached out to Dennis Negron on this matter but did not receive a response.
