On November 11th, members of UNISVerse and ten students from the UNIS journalism class joined Mr. Herman to attend the journalism conference held by the Harvard Crimson on the university’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While there, students learned about writing, editing, and facilitating journalism clubs in schools.

The conference consisted of an opening ceremony, four workshops, and a closing ceremony. The workshop topics ranged from journalism ethics to how to write a feature story to how to modernize journalism.

According to the participants, the conference was meaningful and informative. Holly Jenvey, T4, said, “The Harvard Journalism Conference is a [helpful] trip for those who want to pursue journalism like me… as an editor I’m more aware of what I should look for in an article.”

Students appreciated the conference for different reasons. Alex Nason, T3, stated that the seminars and the workshops gave him a sense of professionalism as to how a college newspaper works. Ceren Powell, T2, pointed out that the international perspective of the keynote speaker—who talked about the changes she brought to Indian children through journalism—was most memorable. “Her story made me realize the possibilities that I have as an international student. There so many paths to take in the world of journalism.” she explained.

The students also learned about strategies to increase the readership of newspapers and promote journalism in schools. Elizabeth Roytberg, T3, believes that a website would enhance user interactivity and increase the prestige of UNISVerse. She also suggested putting the newspaper on the Tut House weekly newsletter so that people would be reminded of UNISVerse on a regular basis. To this end, she also proposed the creation of a UNISVerse social media account, as this would also increase readership. “Students have to know about the newspaper beyond its publications,” said Elizabeth.

Mr. Herman reflected, “The conference was a real success. Students seemed to enjoy it, and it filled everyone with great ideas.” The conference attendees hope to apply their knowledge to UNIS’ publications.