The Beacon, first published in 1936, reflects nearly 70 years of campus history. Read all about The Beacon's history and other alumni news in the latest issue of WP Magazine.

View Archived Issues of The Beacon

Curious what the campus was like in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or in recent years? Click below for a random sampling of issues from the past. A complete archive of old issues are available for your perusal by visiting the The David and Lorraine Cheng Library on campus.

Scott Sailor, Beacon editor 1985-86, and a fellow student take a look at the school paper.

Important Moments in Campus and World History

On November 30, 1951, The Beacon reported "College Campus Dream Comes True," when the institution relocated to its present site in Wayne. (View pdf)

The Beacon, on June 10, 1937, reported the institution's name is changed to the New Jersey State Teacher’s College at Paterson. (View pdf)

On November 22, 1963, the campus was shocked by the news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. “I remember leaving Hunziker Hall and seeing students crying and hugging,” recalls Emma Trifiletti Burns, editor at the time. A special edition of the Beacon in memory of John F. Kennedy appeared a few days later.  The small staff worked around the clock to get the special issue to the students. (View pdf)

On September 2, 1997, The Beacon reported that the institution was granted university status. The name became The William Paterson University of New Jersey.(View pdf)

"An important part of the role of any good newspaper is
to question, to challenge, to find things that seem unfair or
unjust and bring them to light so that things can get better.
That’s what we tried to do."
John A. Byrne, Beacon editor 1973-1975, and now
executive editor, Business Week magazine.

The Beacon staff in 1948: Ruth Halstead and Ted Langstine, co-editors, Tunis Bello, feature editor, Mary Jane Jerlinski, exchange editor, Don Raffeto, business manager, Bill Montgomery, sports editor, Orville Estler, photographer, Juliette Trainor, faculty advisor. Click here to view a Beacon Staff slide show.

Albert Paganelli, editor-in chief, 1968

Dr. James Houston, founded The Beacon in 1936

Dr. James Houston, first editor of The Beacon, is shown holding a copy of the first issue in 1986 when the paper celebrated its 50th anniversary. Houston, a retired faculty member, served as chair of the education department.

Beacon Editors Share Their Memories

Colin Ungaro, Beacon editor 1975-1976, and now division president with Reed Business Information: "I remember a story that was bylined by both Joe Farah and myself about over-enrollment at the college.  It ran above the Beacon logo. We did these really enterprising, investigative pieces that made a real impact inside the school as opposed to being a newspaper that just told about events or things that were happening on campus.  We were on a mission to make life better on the campus." 

Mike Palumbo, Beacon editor 1986, and now an attorney with LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae, a law firm in New York City: When the campus was awaiting a late-night decision on a possible teacher's strike, the timing coincided with The Beacon's publication deadline. Palumbo and his staff were on the phone with both sides trying to find out what was going on. "We didn’t know if there was going to be school the next morning but we wanted to have the paper accurately cover the results of the strike deadline. I felt like a true newspaper reporter working on a daily," says Palumbo. "It was 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, and we still didn’t have the story. We had to go to the printer at 4 a.m. The deadline came, the administration came up a solution, and the strike was averted. I remember writing the headline FACULTY STRIKE AVERTED, finishing the story, and getting it out. School started Monday and everybody was talking about it. That was kind of a cool thing," says Palumbo.

Scott Sailor, Beacon editor 1985-1986, and now owner of Bruised Apple Books in Peekskill New York: Sailor remembers putting out the newspaper in the pre-computer days. "The whole layout was still cut and paste.  So we’d be up all night cutting and pasting and doing it with razor blades.  Then I would take the boards in my van and drive to the printer in Passaic.  It would be about 4:00 a.m. and I’d back my van up to the loading dock and go to sleep in the back of the van. The workers would bang on the doors to wake me up when the paper was ready at about 8:00 a.m., we’d load them up, and I'd drive all over campus dropping them off." 

Michael J. Burns, Beacon editor 1963-1964, and now president and CEO of Pioneer Human Services, a Seattle-based non-profit organization: When Mike joined the paper in the spring of his sophomore year, Emma Trifiletti was the news editor.  In the fall when Emma was elected editor, she asked Mike to be her feature editor. Three years later they married and have been writing their life story together ever since. In 1999 they established a scholarship fund at William Paterson for a deserving Beacon staffer.  “We wanted to thank the university and assist a hard working student,” explains Mike when speaking about the scholarship initiative.  Today Emma and Mike live in Bellevue, WA.  They have four adult children and eight grandchildren.