Public Media Presence

York Junior College and its student body occasionally appeared in newspapers and advertisements. For the most part, the school preferred to display its new, modern buildings as its main draw. In these instances of media presence, the old building was portrayed as out-of-date and unfashionable (Gazette and Daily, 1961). At the same time, there is a sense of fascination and of loss in some of these newspaper appearances. The demolition of the original, neo-gothic building was publicized and commented on as a dramatic change for the York skyline (York Dispatch, Feb 21 1962). The college was generally transparent, allowing the public to know the shifts in money and in executives as the college moved from one campus to another. The various steps taken by York Junior College to shed its building and legally be able to acquire its new land was regularly reported on in newspapers throughout the years (York Daily Record, 1963; York Dispatch, Feb 10 1962). The school’s push towards a modern identity continued as it transformed into a four-year college, and announced that it was ending any religious connections in the institution and any religious requirements for its employees in 1968 (York Dispatch).

Images of the actual students of York College may have been less frequent during this time, but what the college chose to send out could still be considered revealing. In 1960, brochures were produced which prominently showed students. From a modern perspective, these students appear as stereotypically late 1950s-early 1960s white, smiling young adults. Most of the students in the photographs were clearly posing for the camera. There were no students of color present and publicizing any diversity seemed to be the last of the school’s priorities as opposed to looking attractive to a mainstream, white public (York College Brochure, 1960). Several years later, in 1965, a short newspaper article was published to promote the opening of the new campus. The article impressed upon the fact that the school has a student body that comprises seven different nations. The pictures presented in this article felt much more natural, with the students in-class and hunched over their work. However, despite the claim in the text that the student body is diverse, only one image focused on someone who is not white – the teacher Dr. Sardari Khanna, from India (Gazette and Daily, 1965).