Sam Houston State University no longer stocks newspapers from publications including USA Today and The Houston Chronicle.

One of the people that knew of the removal before it even happened was junior English major/ Biology and Philosophy minor Miguel DeLeon. As an enthusiastic newspaper reader since high school, he discovered that SHSU was removing the papers during Fall 2017— the semester he started working for the Office of World Languages and Culture.

Concerned about the removal, DeLeon e-mailed Houstonian Business Manager Paty Mason on September 25, 2017. Mason replied saying that SHSU no longer distributed them due to the college no longer paying for them.

“Hi Miguel, I just wanted to follow up again,” Mason said in her email.  “Sadly we no longer receive outside newspapers at the university.  Many of us miss them terribly.  Please feel free to contact the President’s office, I believe they no longer pay for them. Sincerely, Paty.”

DeLeon later e-mailed the Office of the President and received a reply from Chelsea K. Smith, the Associate Dean of Students, who mentioned that USA Today’s removal in particular was due to structural changes.

Last Sunday, DeLeon also spoke with Bailey Burnham about setting up an appointment with Smith regarding the matter. Burnham’s attempt to bring back the newspapers has been unsuccessful so far.

“I tried to write up an amendment to bring the newspapers back,” DeLeon said, “They didn’t want to give funding for the program. An insufficient amount of people wanted the newspapers, but no one ever told us if there was a vote for it or not.”

Stay up to date with The Houstonian for more information as details develop.