The Collegiate Challenge, later known simply as The Challenge, is a student-run paper at Tacoma Community College. The paper was published from the very start of the college, making it a valuable resource in the history of the college and the student experience.
The paper’s name was chosen by the students in 1966 after several early title changes and an unnamed period. The first student editor-in-chief was Jim Simpson, and the first faculty advisor was Monty Jones. The staff was picked from interested students. Editors and reporters participated in journalism classes up until 2007. Courses that tied to the Challenge included Communications 100, circa 1967-1968; and Journalism 100, 201 (reporting), 202 (news and feature writing), 203 (copy editing, markup), circa 1974-1975. According the the 1986 Student Handbook, a few positions on the Challenge staff were paid. The newspaper published campus, local, and sometimes broader state and national news, as well as creative work by and for the students.
After 2006, The Challenge ceased publication of a print edition and went digital. As there is no longer a Journalism program at TCC, publication has become more sporadic in recent years.
These newspapers are part of a larger collection of TCC-related publications, the TCC Archives Special Collections Library. A finding aid describing the collection is available at the link below.
This digital collection contains selections from the Pearl Anderson Wanamaker collection. These photographs and letter document the 1966 ceremony dedicating the Library and Instructional Resource Center at Tacoma Community College to Washington state educator and official Pearl A. Wanamaker.
The collection comprises three large picket signs from the 1973 faculty strike, donated by Linda Ford. The signs each include grommetted holes at the top for attaching rope or other fasteners. One sign includes a bit of rope and string still tied to the top.
The collection contains 22 interviews with long term faculty and staff as well as former students of Tacoma Community College. The oral histories were conducted by Marketing and Communication Department staff members Shawn Jennison and Rachel Payne, and made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the college.
