Aleasha Hintz — Staff writer

Many students are familiar with it, fewer read it, and even fewer really depend on it: The Weekly. The premise of The Weekly is contained in the name: a dependable, weekly resource that is meant to keep students in the know about on-campus events. But lately, the Weekly has become pretty much irrelevant.

For one thing, The Weekly has been late numerous times this school year. If it is a document worth sending (and I think it can be), then it should at least be on time. The email itself is supposed to come every week on early on Tuesdays, but many issues of The Weekly, such as the Feb. 1 issue, have been sent on a Wednesday. 

It may seem petty to complain about this being one day late, but the truth is that The Weekly is not performing its function if it is not arriving on time. If an event were to be scheduled on a Wednesday, and The Weekly didn’t arrive until the day of, it has the potential to harm the event’s participation (assuming that there are others like me, who do actually check The Weekly for events).

I also think that The Weekly could use a layout update. To help with its own readership and to communicate student-sponsored events better, I really wish the announcements and events sections of The Weekly would be moved closer to the top of the email. The only reason I say this is because the other sections tend to become a little repetitive.

I am not trying to diminish the important role that these groups play in campus life at Dordt, but the section in The Weekly on athletics, student government, and the AEC are pretty much exactly the same format every week. There are rarely announcements within The Weekly itself about these areas— they are just links in the email.

The Weekly has an opportunity to honor student-run events, community events, and fundraisers when they include them in the email. The writers of The Weekly could honor these events even more by keeping them at the top of the email. The Weekly could also better serve Dordt’s students by being more intentional with its punctuality and arrangement.

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