Old Gold & Black

Student run newspaper of Wake Forest University

The Old Gold & Black (sometimes abbreviated to OGB) is the student run newspaper of Wake Forest University, named after the school's colors. The newspaper was founded in 1916 and is published in print every other Thursday, with the exception of school holidays and exam weeks. The Old Gold & Black office is located on the fifth floor of the Benson University Center on Wake Forest's main campus. The Old Gold & Black is a newspaper that has placed many times at Associated Collegiate Press conferences.

The Old Gold & Black is responsible for naming the Wake Forest mascot, the Demon Deacon. In 1923, the Wake Forest American football team defeated rival Duke University. In the following issue of the Old Gold and Black, sports editor Mayon Parker (1924 Wake Forest graduate) first referred to the team as "Demon Deacons", in recognition of what he called their "devilish" play and fighting spirit.

In October 1962, the High Point Central Baptist Association censured the Old Gold & Black for running an advertisement featuring a student mixing an alcoholic beverage in his dorm room. The controversy of the advertisement was part of ongoing tensions between university leadership and the Baptist State Convention. In response to the censure, university officials promised to Baptist board members that the ads would not reappear. In December 1989, Tim Bell, a Wake Forest student studying abroad in China, was found guilty by the Honor Council of deceiving his professors who were chaperoning the trip. Bell had secretly filmed parts of the Tiananmen Square massacre and then smuggled them out of the country. Public opinion on campus was mixed following the conviction; some felt he acted heroically while others thought he was selfish for endangering the rest of the students on the trip. Nevertheless, in an editorial the Old Gold & Black defended Bell's actions and criticized the Honor Council for procedural errors. Eventually, Bell's conviction was overturned. In March 2000, the Old Gold & Black published an anti Semitic advertising insert entitled "The Revisionist." The Editorial Staff realized its error later that day, and issued a public apology. The Resident Student Association sponsored a forum where the issue was discussed. President Thomas Hearn issued a powerful public statement uniting the campus community against the hatred represented in the insert and creating a schedule of Holocaust related speakers and events for the following semesters. Furthermore, the advertising manager wrote an op ed piece regretting her mistake and taking full responsibility. She announced that the proceeds of the advertisement would be donated to a local Holocaust Center. As a result of the insert, a formal advertising policy was established and goals were set to improve
communication between the editorial and business offices.

The five people most responsible for the day to day operations of the paper are the Editor in Chief, the Business Manager, and the Print, Online, and Multimedia Managing Editors. The incoming Business Manager and Editor in Chief are selected by their predecessors after consultation with the Faculty Adviser and other members of the Editorial Board. The outgoing editor in chief also selects the following year's managing editors. There were two editors in the 1989 school year because editor Jonathan Jordan ran for a seat in the 39th District of the North Carolina House of Representatives. He would lose the race and resign his position to catch up on his school work. Alan Pringle would take his post.

L. T. Stallings '16, playwright and screenwriter, worked on the Old Gold & Black when it was a literary magazine. W. J. Cash '22, author of The Mind of the South, served as editor of the Old Gold & Black while an undergraduate at Wake Forest. Edwin Wilson '23, former professor, provost and vice president of Wake Forest, wrote for the Old Gold & Black his senior year at Wake Forest. Graham Martin Jr. '32, U. S. Ambassador to Thailand, Italy and South Vietnam, was a managing editor of the Old Gold & Black as a student. Shearon Davis '35, prominent businessman, former chairman of the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce, and namesake for the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Plant was a managing editor as a student. David Britt '37, a Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, served as the business manager of the Old Gold & Black as a student. Jesse Helms, a U. S. Senator from 1973–2003, was a sports reporter for the Old Gold & Black before dropping out to take a job at the Raleigh Times. Bynum Shaw '48, author and former reporter for the Baltimore Sun, worked as the editor of the Old Gold & Black as a student at Wake Forest. Al Hunt '65, former writer for the Wall Street Journal and current Washington managing editor for Bloomberg News, was an Old Gold & Black staff member. Linda Carter Brinson '69, journalist and first woman assistant national editor at The Baltimore Sun, served as editor of the Old Gold & Black while an undergraduate student. Maria Henson '82, who won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, served as a copy editor of the Old Gold & Black as an undergraduate. Louise Flanagan '84, a U. S. District Judge, was a section editor of the Old Gold & Black as a student. Tom Ondrof '86, the current CFO of Aramark, served as a sports editor of the Old Gold & Black while studying at Wake Forest. Jonathan Jordan '90, an attorney and politician who served in the North Carolina House of Representatives, was editor in chief of the Old Gold & Black. Britt Grant '00, a U. S. Circuit Court Judge, wrote for the Old Gold & Black as an undergraduate. Ricky Van Veen '03, co founder of the website CollegeHumor, was a photographer and reporter for the Old Gold & Black while a student. Zachary Klein '04, co founder of Vimeo, was one of the first Online Managing Editors of the Old Gold & Black. Jordan Rae Kelly '05, the former director for cyber incident response on the National Security Council at the White House, wrote for the Old Gold & Black as an undergraduate.