Attempting to fill what they see as a void of expression on campus, a group of students is starting a new literary magazine to showcase the work of minority students.
"This magazine is open to all Dartmouth students but especially to encourage, show and highlight the writings of students of color," said Jen Daniel '97, who is the editor of the new magazine, which is titled Snapshots of Color.
"It is a forum to allow them to express themselves when they wouldn't have been able to otherwise," Daniel said.
She said the magazine will include all types of artwork: poetry, short stories, drawings, photography and autobiographies.
"I think it's something that will be beneficial to the whole Dartmouth community. I don't see it as an exclusive or separatist project," she said. "It's just something that hasn't been explored before and I think it can enlighten people and bring people together who haven't worked together before."
While there is another campus publication produced by students of color -- The Black Praxis, a publication by the Afro-American Society -- Daniel said her magazine is different because it does not have a political purpose.
The Black Praxis "is not a literary magazine -- it has mostly political writing and has been branching into artistic work only recently," she said.
Daniel said she was inspired to start the magazine last year after taking a freshman seminar on the autobiography as a work of literature.
She and the 12 other students in the class wrote their own autobiographical essays at the end of the term, which Daniel said she and three other students later published.
Jennifer Whetsell '97, who was also in Daniel's seminar, said although there is some literary work in The Black Praxis, she still believes there is a void on campus.
"I haven't been exposed to Asian-American and Latino-American literary work and I don't know much about them," she said. "I feel that I can learn from it [the magazine] even as I am contributing."
After receiving encouragement from professors and deans who saw their work, Daniel decided to turn her efforts toward the magazine.
Daniel said she has been pleased with the number of students who have shown interest in contributing work and editing.
She said they include students from her seminar as well as people who responded to an electronic-mail message she sent to all of the affinity groups on campus informing them of her idea.
"I'm hoping to recruit more '98s because a lot of the '97s will be taking off-terms next year, and we will need them to take over," she said.
The students involved in producing the magazine are still discussing possible sources of funding.
They said they hope to publish the magazine once a term and distribute it free of charge.
