Major Elmira College Student Publications

The Iris is the Elmira College Yearbook. Named after the College flower, the first issue, the 1897 Iris, came out in 1896 as a publication of the Junior Class. The Iris continued as a publication of the Junior class until 1957 at which time the Senior Class took over its production. The College Archives contains a complete collection of the Iris.

  

The first issue of the Sibyl appeared in 1871. It has seen continuous publication since that time, appearing in various formats and varying in frequency. It served, until the emergence of a weekly student newspaper, as the source for campus news as well as being the campus literary magazine. The College Archives contains a complete collection of Sibyls.

 

The Elmira College Weekly was created in 1919 as the first weekly student publication in a newspaper format, leaving The Sibyl to function largely as a literary magazine. In 1935 when it became clear that the paper would not always be able to meet its expectation as "weekly" the name was changed to The Octagon, after a vote of the student body. The original college building, the octagonal Cowles Hall, inspired the name. The College Archives contains a complete collection of the Elmira College Weekly and The Octagon.