As I’ve always written, Denison Magazine is your magazine—we just work here. (And boy, is this a cool gig, but that’s another column entirely.) Our hope for this magazine is to bring you news from the College in the most engaging ways—and we take great pride in the stories we’ve been able to tell over the years. But it was time for a change. Denison Magazine’s last redesign was 18 years ago—that’s eons in the publication world. At that time, we jumped from a traditional alumni magazine to a big-ideas piece showing the ways in which our alumni, faculty, and students were wading into wider issues out in the world. It was a full 360, and it was well received. We took a lot of risks over the years (as far as alumni magazines go), and you stuck with us. And just like the Denisonians you are, even when you disagreed with topics covered or our way of handling them in print, you responded with smart, well-reasoned arguments, always ending with a kind word. That’s refreshing in this business—and it’s just the way this is supposed to work. We can’t thank you enough for that.
Through this redesign process, we hoped to continue to engage readers with surprising, relevant, and timely content, so we went out and asked many of you what you wanted your magazine to be. The answers ran the gamut. Some readers loved the design elements we brought. Others thought the magazine was overly designed. Some readers loved those wide-world topics. Others missed Reunion photos. But a few things stood out: You’re a busy lot, and you thought we were a little long-winded (fair enough), so you asked us to cut back on story length. You wanted to see more of Denison in our pages (photos of campus, then and now). You wanted more student voices. And you wanted us to pour more energy into our Class Notes section, which is, without a doubt, the most well-read section of the magazine. With this redesign, we’ve aimed to do just that. And because this is your magazine, we want to continue to hear from you—what you love, what you don’t, what works, what doesn’t, and, of course, what you’re up to in life off the Hill—so Denison Magazine can continue to evolve. Don’t be shy: write to us.