In the 2001 October Issue of The Gavel over 20 years ago, retiring Editor Kevin Butler began a story for this newspaper with these lines: “While most students were busy forgetting everything law school taught them over the summer months, the staff of the Gavel passed two- mile markers.” Those markers signaled something old, and something new. The old: The Gavel turned 48 years old. The news, we climbed to the #1 spot of all law school newspapers in the country by winning the ABA Newspaper Award. eating out Ivy League contenders from Harvard, Columbia, etc. On the brink of a new millennium, our newspaper reached the peak of its field for the first time.
While you may think it took a long time to achieve a goal like winning the Newspaper Award it is no small feat. 22 years later (now that The Gavel has won this prestigious award for the second time) we cut that wait in half. But still, enough time has passed for a lot to change.
Reading through the rest of the 2001 Issue where Mr. Butler printed his own celebratory Newspaper-Award Story it is like playing a game of “same face, (slightly) new place.” Some highlights:
then-Dean Steven Steinglass wrote columns for The Gavel, now Dean Emeritus Steinglass spends less time in his office than I do, but is still actively involved in scholarship and educating folks on the Ohio Constitution;
then-Prof. Stephen Lazarus was involved with the Moot Court Team alongside Profs. Karin Mika and Sandra Kerber, now Prof. Emeritus Lazarus teaches fewer classes than he used to, but is no less beloved and sought-after by all students;
then-tenure-track Prof. Kevin O’Neill was amid his civil liberties advocacy and fighting for death row inmates’ First Amendment rights during their last words, today tenured-Prof. O’Neill is The Gavel faculty advisor and shares his wealth of academic and experiential knowledge to teach future generations of advocates;
Kevin Butler himself went from a law student, and Editor of The Gavel, to a successful attorney as Of Counsel at McDonald Hopkins, at the time I write this story.
And really, it takes a lot less time than 22 years for a lot to change. Especially in law school years. Since I’ve started writing for The Gavel, then-Managing Editor Catelyn Cook went from being the youngest CSU|Law graduate ever, to completing her academic journey with a Master of Education. Our current Managing Editor (Phil Corfman) is someone I went to undergrad with a few years ago but feel like I haven’t seen him since I was procrastinating on homework by playing games on a PlayStation 2. I’ve gone from Editor-in-Chief of our paper to effectively entering Editor Emeritus status. And I’m sure we can all relate to how long and hectic the day-to-day of law school can feel. Especially in the crunch of a semester’s second half, aMiRiTe? hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA . . . ha . . . ha . . . ugh. It’s a long 3 to 4 law school years for most of us. The Gavel is now 70 years old. All those years were law school years.
But why care? Newspapers are pretty quaint, right? I mean, who even picks up those comically large leaflets anymore? Browsing social media feeds is so much more convenient. And why bother writing for a law school newspaper? There are professionals who report on the news every minute of every day. And AI will probably eventually become sophisticated enough and ubiquitous enough to report on all the news more efficiently than humans ever could.
You should care because The Gavel isn’t just a paper for reporting news; it’s a funky-shaped forum for telling stories. In our 70 law-school years, CSU|Law students, faculty, and community members have expressed themselves within our paper, sharing their personal experiences (like our Student Spotlight series), making us laugh (in our The Gravel April Fools Issues), and emphasizing current events which are of personal interest to them (like our World News stories). As an analogy, many members within the legal profession unwind after long workweeks by getting together with colleagues in funky-shaped diners, bars, etc. to chat the nights away, tell stories about their experiences, laugh out loud, or emphasize timely events. We’re a funky group of stressed-out professionals that love to listen to and be heard by, each other.
The Gavel is now the best it’s ever been at being a forum for listening and for being heard. When reading the 2001 Issue many stories were penned by “Staff Writers”: recurring writers who were formally associated with our paper. Now, we have no “Staff Writers,” we only have volunteer Contributors. This dynamic, which we emphasized in our application for the 2023 Newspaper Award, is what makes our paper special. The Gavel is a forum where anyone from the CSU|Law community can be heard. It’s this diversity in backgrounds, perspectives, and passions from our writers that makes our paper stand out—on the national stage—versus other law school newspapers.
A lot has changed since 2001, but The Gavel continues to care about its mission to be a funky-shaped forum for our colleagues after all these years because, just like great professors and deans never really stop teaching and leading, a great paper never stops being a platform for its community. Stories continue to be made by the CSU|Law community. And although we’re happy to report on them ourselves, it’s even better when they are told by our community through our forum. Thank you for making last year another award-winning year for our paper. And thank you for 70 great law school years. Here’s to another 70.
The Gavel with Mr. Butler’s Story: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=lawpublications_gavel2000s
CSU’s Story About Our Award: https://www.csuohio.edu/news/all-rise-gavel-nets-aba-division-award-for-2023#:~:text=Each%20year%2C%20the%20American%20Bar,so%20in%20over%2020%20years.
ABA's Past Winners: Awards Archive (americanbar.org)
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