Silver and Gold record

The roots of the Silver & Gold Record date back to the last decade of the University of Colorado’s student newspaper, the Colorado Daily, in the 1960s. The Daily had been largely funded by the University and was generally monitored by a faculty/staff advisory committee. During the 1960s, the Daily’s editors came under fire for their editorials, as well as their reporting style and content. In 1962, editorials ran in the paper which offended Republican presidential front runner, Barry Goldwater, and embarrassed both CU President Quig Newton and the Board of Regents. Conflict between the student newspaper and the Publications Board continued as the vitriolic editorials against the University and its administrators. Arguments also arose between the Daily and the outside community, and also caused internal strife within the University on matters of censorship, free press, and editorial responsibility.

As a result of the turmoil and with the end of in loco parentis, the Colorado Daily, along with the rest of the student publications, was cut loose by the Board of Regents in the spring of 1970. Like other former student publications, the Daily still rented UMC office space, but they were no longer published by the Regents of the University, edited or staffed by students, nor overseen by faculty of the school of Journalism. Creating a new on-campus publication to fill the hole left by the loss of the Daily was the last thing on anyone’s mind, at first, but problems arose as a result of the Daily’s decision to leave campus. The University could no longer ask the independent Daily to report the needed memoranda, announcements, notices, and minutes of meetings that had normally been reported through the Daily. Immediately after the departure of the student newspaper, the campus mailroom was overwhelmed with many campus materials that were formerly published in the Daily. Using the mailroom as a means to distribute these materials proved to be too costly and inefficient and was discontinued. As a result, the faculty suggested that the administration fund another publication whose function was to carry all of the minutes of meetings, announcements of the University, and notices that were required. Others posed that this new publication refer back to the name held by the student newspaper prior to 1953, The Silver and Gold (1890-1953), and “Record” was added to state the main purpose of the new publication, to serve as a record of University events and decisions.

While University administrators and faculty were determined that a publication ought to be established to keep faculty, staff, and administrators informed of events on campus, no one was eager to undergo the same difficulties encountered with the Daily. Decisions needed to be made regarding editorials and off campus news. The Vietnam War had not ended, nor had protests halted. The new publication then, was to no small extent established with the memories of the Daily and its controversies firmly in mind. To avoid these issues, the new publication would not be a real newspaper, per se. Off-campus news would not appear.

Additionally, there was concern with the creation of the Silver & Gold Record that in order to avoid any editorial problems of the sort encountered with the Daily, there needed to be a connection between the publication and the Faculty Council. The Faculty Council therefore created an editorial board which added staff Council representatives several years later. The editorial board governed the publication and gave it some legitimacy among the faculty and staff of the University. In order to avoid controversy engendered by critical editorials, the new newspaper would not run editorials or letters to the editor.

The direction of the Silver & Gold Record changed almost immediately after its creation, as more responsibility was handed to the editorial board. Changes included the decision by the editorial board to allow letters to the editor, advertisements, and signed articles. All changes in the publication were determined by the Editorial Board, and by 1974, the board had total responsibility of every aspect of the publication. In the years that followed other significant changes included the use of bylines for reporters, sale of off-campus advertising, and the board’s decision to expand news coverage to all four campuses in the University of Colorado system.

In 1994, the Editorial Board decided to give the Silver & Gold Record editor permission to write editorials as a way to foster more discussion and debate on University issues. This decision met with considerable opposition from the President’s Office, which provided funding for the publication. When several attempts by the President’s Office to join editorial authority to its funding of the publication failed, the President’s Office substantially cut the Silver & Gold Record general fund budget allocation.

In 1998, the Silver & Gold Record began publishing online until 2009.