The cover of The Minaret’s inaugural issue, published on Sept. 14, 1933. Photo courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Macdonald-Kelce Library.
How the University of Tampa’s more than 90-year-old student newspaper came to be.
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By Alyssa Cortes
TAMPA, Fla. — The earliest archived copy of The Minaret isn’t a newspaper, but a single bulletin page. On Dec. 16, 1931, a bulletin for the Second General Assembly was published. By 1932, a weekly-issued bulletin titled “Tampa Junior College Bulletin” was created by the Publications Committee of the Student Council.
In the Nov. 30 issue of that year, the lighthearted voice of what would become The Minaret was clear, “Did you know: That Dean Coulson and Dr. Becknell went fishing at Port Tampa, Thanksgiving? By wrapping the lines around the piles and breaking them on the barnacles, the fish outwitted the pair for a while, but, undaunted, the two fishermen exchanged their lines for antennae wires and landed a fine twelve-pound Rab 10. Fishing is not only a holiday, but also the Saturday diversion of the Dean and Dr. Becknell.”
May 1933 marked the final bulletin, renamed “The University of Tampa Bulletin.” On Sept. 14, 1933, the first official issue of the newspaper we now know as The Minaret was published. The inaugural issue included a few articles, a letter from the mayor, a complete schedule of classes and advertisements from local businesses such as The Plant Park Pharmacy and Peninsular Telephone Co.
From 1933 until Oct. of 1940, the paper’s appearance remained largely unchanged aside from a logo switch. Over the years, minor changes and additions were made to the newspaper, such as an increase in images, specialty covers, letters to the editor and the occasional logo change. Each decade introduced its own unique style. During this time, The Minaret office was housed in the Howard Hall dormitory.
The cover of the Nov. 1967 issue of The Minaret incorporated accents of blue into the print, a first for the publication that would later become the norm. Photo courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Macdonald-Kelce Library.
In 1967, the publication introduced its first print with color accents, followed in 1982 by color images. Throughout the 1990s, each year brought a distinct theme, logo and color scheme; culminating in 1999 with the red color scheme still used today. By the 2000s, the paper had become fully colorized.
The Minaret became a reliable source of news for students, documenting major historical events, including the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001. By the 2010s, The Minaret office had relocated to the second floor of the Vaughn Center. In 2011, special-edition magazines were introduced to the publication’s circulation. In 2015, the online version of The Minaret was born, theminaretonline.org. That same year, The Minaret came close to eviction from its Vaughn Center office, but it remains there today.
Brianna Kwasnik, an alumna who wrote for The Minaret from 2013 to 2016 and later returned to the University of Tampa as the Digital Content Editor and Writer for the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, credits The Minaret for kickstarting her career as a reporter.
“I found a great group of like-minded people, whom I still stay in touch with today, more than 10 years later,” said Kwasnik of her time with The Minaret.
The Sept. 14, 2001, issue of The Minaret, published in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, highlighted the student body’s reactions and their thoughts on what would come next. Photo courtesy of Special Collections & Archives, Macdonald-Kelce Library.
In 2017, the layout of the print was changed to a magazine-like format with an image-filled cover page. From 2019 to 2024, The Minaret experienced inconsistency in print production and lacked a cohesive online aesthetic. Print frequency declined from daily or weekly to none, then once per semester, due to the pandemic and decreasing newspaper circulation.
“If I’m being honest, when looking in the previous archives of the newspaper, it felt like there was no visual style,” said Cassandra Carithers, Senior Graphic Designer from 2024 to 2025.
This began to change with the Fall 2024 staff, led by former Editor-in-Chief Kiley Petracek and Managing Editor Shane Petagna, who emphasized the importance of physical media and reinstated biweekly print issues.
Carithers said the previous print style varied widely, so she prioritized creating a unified visual identity, drawing inspiration from the 2013 to 2016 designs. The first issue she worked on in the fall of 2024 marked a strong comeback.
“It was special to me because I had the full creative control and was in charge of being ‘the face’ of the newspaper,” said Carithers. “I was worried, but it worked out in the end.”
Cassandra Carithers, Senior Graphic Designer from 2024 to 2025, won first place for front page design at the 2025 Sunshine Awards for this issue. Photo courtesy of The Minaret.
Carithers initiated The Minaret redesign, which the current team continues to build upon.
In its more than 93-year history, The Minaret has expanded to the web, gone through numerous redesigns and relocated offices, but through it all, it has persevered.
“Every time you look at the newspaper, you know it’s The Minaret!” said Carithers.