For almost 130 years, despite name and design changes, through editorial board and technological changes, The Reflector has chronicled the history of Mississippi State University and the surrounding community. From moments like the 1963 Game of Change to the most recent campus renovations, the students who run the newspaper have worked and continue to work to serve their audience.

And even as The Reflector approaches its 130th anniversary in December, the newspaper remains just as relevant to the university, Starkville and the alumni who love MSU as it did in 1884.

The Reflector, which has expanded to social media and the Internet, now reaches far more people than before. The print edition appears both on newsstands and on Issuu.com as a PDF. The main Twitter account (@ReflectorOnline), among many social media outlets, informs readers of breaking news and links to stories posted on the website. Online-only stories supplement the print edition.

Alumni and prospective students now have easier access to news about Mississippi State and Starkville, especially since all of the content is free. Organizations and people unaffiliated with MSU now find articles and information from The Reflector that give all aspects of the university and Starkville more exposure. The print edition is not moot because of Internet — breaking news stories are expounded upon and more heavily researched in the print edition, for example. 

Students run The Reflector — the editorial decisions, the ad designs, the photographs, the stories are all student-generated with the intention of being a professional student newspaper. The employees of The Reflector are paid based on revenue produced by advertisement sales, and they in turn tend to spend their money locally. 

Beyond being a news outlet and business, the student newspaper gives students of all majors and backgrounds opportunities to develop leadership skills and talents. Former Reflector staff members have gone on to graduate law school and many pursue careers in public relations, non-profits, healthcare and journalism. 

For four years, I worked in The Reflector’s office. The newspaper quickly became more than a job for me, as I learned more about service through journalism and my responsibility to the community. I became friends with my fellow editors while working and laughing alongside them. 

By the end of my time at Mississippi State, I had developed a different world than the one I clung to when I entered college. Writing other people’s stories and listening to their points of view challenged my perceptions. I realized my decisions affected the lives of others. 

I wanted to make the community a better place by using my talents at The Reflector, I wanted to help make the newspaper this university deserved.

But the remarkable thing about The Reflector is that the desire to positively influence its audience didn’t begin or end with me. The editors, writers, photographers, designers, advertising representatives, managers and circulation staff members I’ve met from all eras of The Reflector — whether it was 50 years ago or the staff currently printing this newspaper — all care about this newspaper and the community it serves. The legacy of The Reflector accurately mirrors the People’s University.

Thank you to the audience, advisers and employees involved in the 130 years of Reflector history — those that established a solid foundation and those that keep informing and evolving. The university is better with you writing, editing and discussing.  Keep going.