As budget cuts prevent the production of physical yearbooks, LSU seniors have conflicting opinions about the new digital format.
LSU’s yearbook, The Gumbo, is produced by the LSU Office of Student Media. It produced physical yearbooks capturing student life on campus from 1900 until 2018, when it shifted to an online-only publication.
The shift to online publication started when Student Government proposed a bill to produce digital copies of the yearbook when student media fees increased.
Mass Communication senior Gabe Henderson is the editor in chief of The Gumbo yearbook. He says he is used to the digital format because he joined the Gumbo staff in 2019.
Henderson said that the cost of making yearbooks depends on the specific publishers, types of colors, design, amount of yearbooks and other factors that go into the publication process. Although the Gumbo is available online only for students, four to five physical copies are made for the archives.
“Digital yearbooks are essentially free for everyone besides the school’s subscription with the publication company,” Henderson said.
Henderson said he is unsure if the Gumbo yearbooks will be physically published in the future.
“I think it all depends on Student Government and the student body’s mood toward bringing a physical yearbook back,” Henderson said. “Right now, the yearbook won’t be physical because it’s really not something that people think about. The only time that [LSU Student Media] gets to advertise the yearbook is at Grad Fair, which is only for graduating seniors.”
Henderson said he has spoken to members of Student Government, and they showed a willingness to bring the physical yearbooks back, but there has been no action taken.
Henderson also said students are not well informed about the digital publication of the yearbook. He says every year during Grad Fair, students come to the Student Media kiosk and ask for yearbooks, and he must tell them that the Gumbo is not physically published.
“LSU Student Media tries to advertise the best we can, whether it be through the Gumbo, through the advertising office, or student media as a whole,” Henderson said. “The reality of this situation is that you are never going to get the message out to 30,000 people unless the school sends something out. LSU has not shown a willingness to send a notifying message out.”
Henderson says he favors bringing back physical copies of the Gumbo.
“I have always loved the keepsakes of a physical yearbook,” Henderson said. “I don’t think people really understand the significance of a physical yearbook in the beginning, but can be shared for future generations. I have had so many people come up to me and have seen LSU Gumbo yearbooks at antique stores. That’s a really cool thing.”
For students that still want a physical copy of the yearbook, Henderson says Student Media is providing an option to download the entire yearbook into one file, and students can bring the file to a publisher of their choice.
As Henderson approaches graduation, he hopes the future Gumbo staff will continue to advocate for a physical yearbook.
“I have pulled back from this fight,” Henderson said about the digital versus physical yearbook publishings. “I have fought for as long as I can, and at this point, it’s not going to change. I am just hoping that the next person who succeeds me can pick up the baton and run with it. Hopefully, they can get Student Government and students on campus talking.”
Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship senior Deventria Curtis was surprised LSU is not publishing physical yearbooks for the 2021-2022 school year. Although the Gumbo has been online-only since 2018, Curtis said most seniors did not know until this year.
“A lot of us seniors did not know that LSU was making digital copies which made us feel left out, or we did not know all of the details behind the yearbook’s publication,” Curtis said. “When we found out that we have a digital yearbook, it was heartbreaking and clueless because of the lack of understanding for the yearbook. It feels like a waste.”
Curtis thinks the online yearbooks lack sentimental value.
“With a digital copy, I can look at the pictures whenever,” Curtis said. “[A digital copy] still just does not have the same feel as a physical yearbook with memories. This digital copy of the yearbook just feels very optional to look at.”
Even though the digital yearbook allows parents to buy and create ads for their graduating children, Curtis does not think that will offset the lack of a physical copy.
“I feel like it is a great idea to have parents place ads, but it is still not the same without it being within the physical copies,” Curtis said. “The nostalgic factor in yearbooks years later is lost because instead of something to pass down to children, I have to tell them ‘Here is the link’.”
Curtis also believes that more colleges will adopt the digital publication of yearbooks in the future.
“It is saddening to think that more colleges will adopt this medium for yearbooks,” Curtis said. “With times moving into a more digital space and the convenience of having a yearbook online is at an all-time high. Not only is it convenient for LSU’s budget, but it’s convenient for the users and consumers of the yearbook to easily look the yearbook up online.”
Psychology and Sociology senior Kennedy Simon believes the digital yearbooks will be more accessible and cost-friendly to students.
“I am for the virtual yearbooks in the sense that it will provide more accessibility for students and alumni members to view the yearbooks,” Simon said. “I also think that having a hard copy yearbook will be a treasured memory. I think that those that want a hard copy can go to a publisher and get that memento.”
Simon believes the free digital format of the Gumbo helps cut the expenses seniors already have to cover for graduation.
“Graduating as a senior, you pay for your cap, your gown and your diploma frame; you might not have that extra money to purchase a yearbook,” Simon said. “Digital yearbooks will cut down on the money that graduating seniors will have to spend.”
