In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Tech students organized a weekly newspaper, The Georgia Tech which later transitioned into the current paper, the Technique which was founded in 1911. The Technique, known as “The South’s Liveliest College Newspaper,” has been recognized through the past century as one of the best college newspapers in the country, and annually places as one of the top papers in the State of Georgia, often taking top honors over the University of Georgia’s Red and Black.
A short-lived publication, known as the Technight, was created, and written for students who attended night classes when they were first offered at the Institute. Little is known about the publication or why it only lasted a few years before being dropped in 1931.
The second longest running student publication was the Blueprint yearbook, which originated in 1908. Yearbooks were produced and distributed to students for one hundred years, but the book was abandoned in 2018 when sales and interest in the annual waned and the book could no longer be produced.
Several humor publications were a part of the student publications on campus such as The Golden Tornado (1917-1920), The Yellow Jacket (1921-1951) and later The Rambler (1960-1966). Much of these “humor” publications were focused on topics not acceptable in today’s society and were rightly disbanded with the onset of changes to the Institute’s demographics and improvements in societal strides of equality.
Another long-standing publication was the beloved T-Book (1904-present day), the campus history and traditions handbook, now given to all incoming students at the annual Fall Convocation ceremony. The T-Book was first produced by the Institute’s YMCA, but later became a collaboration between the Board of Student Publications and the Ramblin’ Reck Club and that relationship continues today.
In 1944, the Student Council of Georgia Tech appointed a group of faculty and students to form the Board of Student Publications. The Board was established to provide editorial guidance and financial support to the editors and their staffs. While the Board functions today, the Institute formed the Office of Student Media in 1993. The office is led by a director who works with day-to-day operations, meets with editors regularly, provides media-focused programming, manages finances and printing contracts while representing the media organizations with faculty, staff, students, and constituents nationally and in the metro-Atlanta area.
ERATO, the Institute’s literary and visual arts journal was started by a group of engineers in 1969 when they decided Tech students needed a way to express themselves through prose, poetry, photography, and art. ERATO, which stands for Engineer’s Review and Tech Ontology, produces a yearly journal that has been recognized as one of the highest quality literary journals in the country.
In 1989, the North Avenue Review magazine was born out of a group of students’ desire to have a publication dedicated to the First Amendment and the right to free speech. Publishing each semester, NAR, as it is often referred to, publishes short stories, articles, opinion pieces and art from a student perspective, often touching on sensitive subjects which make the administration squirm.
In March of 1968, after several years of hard work and dedication to bring a student-managed, operated, and engineered college radio station to Georgia Tech, WREK Atlanta, 91.1 FM hit the airwaves. WREK is a popular tradition here at Tech and their slogan, “Quality, Diverse Programming”, can be heard over seventy miles from campus with the help of their 100,000-watt antenna and multi-channel, high-definition transmitter. While the WREK studios have been in various locations on campus over the past fifty years, they recently moved in the summer of 2022 into their new, state-of-the-art studios in the John Lewis Student Center. A large window into the on-air studio allows visitors to watch the DJs in action as they spin vinyl albums and play music from all genres and years.
In 2008 a group of undergraduate students, highly interested in research, form a journal to that features only the highest of quality undergraduate research at the Institute. The Tower: Undergraduate Research Journal, is a collaboration of the Office of Student Publications and the Office of Undergraduate Research and was accepted into the Library of Congress in 2012.
And in 2019, Student Media welcomed its latest publication, 3484 Magazine, a news and information magazine that focuses on the Metro-Atlanta area and its relationship with Georgia Tech’s campus. Articles covering local politics, urban growth and needs of the community keep students in touch with local happenings and concerns.
Publications overview:
- Blueprint 1908-2018 (yearbook)
- Technique 1911-present day (weekly student newspaper)
- T-Book (1904); 1904-1970 YMCA; defunct till late 1990s; re-printed 2007-present day (history/traditions handbook)
- WREK Radio 1968-present day (student-managed college radio station)
- ERATO 1969-present day (literary and visual arts journal)
- North Avenue Review 1989-present day (free speech magazine)
- The Tower: Undergraduate Research Journal 2008-present day (undergraduate research journal)
- 3484 Magazine 2019-present day (news magazine)
- The Georgia Tech 1897-1917 (humor and newspaper)
- The Golden Tornado 1917-1920 (humor magazine)
- The Yellow Jacket 1921-1951 (humor magazine)
- Technight 1926-1931 (night school student paper/newsletter)
- The Engineer 1961-1970 (research articles magazine)
- The Rambler 1960-1966 (humor magazine)