In November 1946, a newspaper called The Colonial News was first printed on the campus of Triple Cities College in Endicott, New York. It was started as a newspaper dedicated to telling the stories of a college founded to serve veterans in the wake of World War II.
The Colonial News evolved into what is now Pipe Dream, and Triple Cities College, originally a two-year satellite campus of Syracuse University, evolved into the fledgling research institution that we now know as Binghamton University.
This university is very different now than it was at its founding. It’s very different now than it was even a decade ago. There are more students and more faculty. The University Downtown Center expanded BU’s reach into the city of Binghamton and a new eight-acre health sciences campus will soon bring BU into Johnson City as well.
As the University grows, we renew our mission to tell the stories that matter to you, our readers — whatever your relationship to the University may be.
It is vital to find your own voice and your own path through Binghamton. Even more than Pipe Dream has been in the past, we want to be a place where everybody in this community can use their voice to call for change — even when that change seems improbable.
Over eight decades ago, the editors of The Colonial News included in that first issue a statement of our values as an organization:
“This is a new paper in a new college. It is up to you, all of you, to insure its success. It will reflect your views and opinions, those of the aggregate student body. Primarily as a news organ it will reflect your achievements — and your failures.”
This mission is perhaps even more important today as the University and the communities that surround it grow and change. We promise to cover BU with fairness in both its triumphs and failures.
Our goal is to create a quality news report that you can’t find elsewhere at BU. We aspire to be more than just a log of what happens, and instead to truly help you understand what makes this community tick.
We still believe in the high level of quality journalism that was written about on the pages of The Colonial News all those years ago. We want to find the stories that you’re passionate about; our job is to serve you — the BU community. Stop by our office in University Union West Room B03 to let us know what you liked, and especially what you didn’t like. We understand that we sometimes miss the mark, but our conversations with you make us stronger as a newspaper and ultimately help us serve you better.
The building where Triple Cities College once stood is still there on Lincoln Avenue in Endicott — a testament to the University’s rapid growth and a monument to a different part of its history. Pipe Dream isn’t meant to just be a monument, but a living and growing record of the University, its successes and its growing pains. However you want to tell your stories, we’ll be there taking notes.
Noah Bressner is a senior majoring in history.