Senior Memory Book to replace traditional yearbook

Due to a lack of student interest in producing and purchasing Tufts yearbooks, the university this year will offer a Senior Memory Book in lieu of a traditional Tufts yearbook, according to Director of the Office for Campus Life (OCL) Joe Golia.

Golia described the Senior Memory Book as a smaller, cheaper version of the yearbook, which will focus on seniors and senior events rather than campus−wide activities and the entirety of the student body.

Insufficient student interest created difficulties with both filling a yearbook staff and selling copies of the finished product, Golia explained.

"Our biggest problem is finding students who are interested in doing it and it's a real challenge," he said.

The entire yearbook staff currently consists of senior Max Almanzor. He is in the process of recruiting additional staff members.

The yearbook has faced declining popularity in recent years. Last year, only 400 yearbooks were sold to less than half of the senior class, according to Golia.

"It's certainly something that people want, but the people who buy them are parents," Golia said. "Students don't seem to be interested at all."

Golia believes that the significantly lower cost of the Senior Memory Book will make it a more attractive option.

Each Senior Memory Book will cost only $50, while past years' yearbooks ran from $85 to $100, depending on how early they were purchased, he added.

The Senior Memory Book will feature senior events such as Senior Week and Commencement, as well as perennial favorites such as Fall Ball and Spring Fling, Almanzor said. He believes that seniors will appreciate the new focus on their unique experiences.

"I think [the switch] is a good idea because it's going to focus more on what seniors are looking for in a yearbook," Almanzor said.

The Senior Memory Book will also represent a stylistic departure from the traditional yearbook. The new book will be horizontal and will be entirely in color, which has never been done before, Golia said.

The Senior Memory Book will maintain several aspects of the traditional yearbook, including a letter from the university president, a letter from the Alumni Association, a list of senior names and a section for advertisements where parents can buy ads, according to Golia.

The new publication will still include senior portraits, a practice that Golia does not anticipate will lose popularity.

"We will probably always keep the option of senior portraits, because that's a service for parents and families," he said.

Senior portraits can exist independently from a yearbook and do not require a time− and labor−intensive production period, Golia added, so they remain unaffected by the issues that have plagued the yearbook.

Senior Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Jon Danzig expressed dismay that the OCL did not elicit student input before making the decision to depart from a traditional yearbook format, claiming that students weren't given appropriate notice about the change.

Nevertheless, Danzig appreciated the need for a different type of book.

"The decision to downsize the yearbook is disappointing but unsurprising given the minimal notice students had been given," Danzig said. "Still, as long as the book includes everything important to the Class of 2012, the lowered cost is a welcome concession."

While Golia noted that the OCL is looking forward to the switch, he is uncertain about the future of the publication.

"I can't tell you about future years," Golia said. "It really depends if there's student interest for the yearbook to continue year to year."