Skip to content

Thursday, April 23, 2026

About
KSUSM
History
Policies
Contact

Search for:

News
- Submit A News Tip
Opinion
Arts & Living
- Reviews
Sports
- Baseball
- Basketball
  - Women
  - Men
- Football
- Golf
- Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Soccer
- Softball
- Tennis
- Volleyball
- XC/Track & Field
- Club Sports
- Sports Blog
Humor
Contact
Advertising
Archives

Search for:

OPINION: Students should support local coffee shops before Starbucks

Posted on April 20, 2020April 21, 2020 by Hannah Menkus

Posted in Opinion

Post navigation

Previous: Long-time Disney College applicant finds success

Next: Campus workers seeing lay-offs, furloughs as university remains closed for coronavirus

Related Posts

Opinion

Opinion: To win, Democrats must go left

Zach McDowell
July 17, 2017
0

Once again, Democrats found a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Opinion

Best of Hiking: Kennesaw Mountain

Admin
April 9, 2013
1

KSU students chose Kennesaw Mountain as their favorite place to hike when compared with other popular locations such as the Silver Comet Trail and Red Top […]

Opinion

Opinion: Fad diets are detrimental to your body

Autumn Edmonston
February 12, 2018
0

Weight loss diets hide dangerous consequences.

The Sentinel is the student newspaper of Kennesaw State University. Since 1966, The Sentinel has provided an open forum to the campus community. It is published in print monthly and online weekly.

Email Marketing by Benchmark

Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
Twitter
Mail

Accessibility Statement

Copyright © 2025 The Sentinel Theme: Fact News By Adore Themes.

KENNESAW, Ga. — Since October 1963, KSU Student Media has dedicated itself to authentic storytelling and exceptional journalism written by the students, for the students. Over the past two academic years, Student Media at Kennesaw State University has seen significant traction and promise through strong student leadership and ambitious
initiatives.

OWL Radio, The Sentinel Newspaper and The Peak Magazine have grown into organizations whose reach, whether through written word or radio broadcast, touches tens of thousands of students.

Despite the lack of institutional support, Sentinel and OWL Radio have been nominated for the Atlanta Press Club 2026 Awards of Excellence and the GABBY awards for Student Radio, respectively.

Kennesaw State University administration is hindering progress by stripping the key funding for The Sentinel, The Peak and OWL Radio.

On March 23, KSU announced that there were no remaining funds for Student Media. This eradicated the possibility for additional physical prints for The Sentinel or The Peak and drastically cut funding for OWL Radio’s event programming. The justification of the funding removal does not come with a promise of better housing, parking, or safety on campus for students. Rather, it comes with KSU’s neglect of their debt to their music licensing budget.

For the fiscal year, Student Media was allocated a $97,000 budget by the Division of Student Affairs. However, instead of the entirety going to Student Media, $61,185.99 of the budget paid for music licensing fees for Registered Student Organizations (RSOs), Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) and Student Affairs as a whole.

This move through budgeting resulted in Student Media paying not just the debt for the music licensing, but Kennesaw State University’s ability to play music across campus freely.
Despite only being responsible for part of the music licensing costs, Student Media’s budget covers almost all of KSU’s music licensing fees, excluding athletics. These fees take up 63.08% of Student Media’s total budget, meaning OWL Radio, The Peak and The Sentinel are only receiving a fraction of the funding they need to function.

Here’s the truth: Kennesaw State is disinterested in the growth of Student Media.

We are in a dangerous and pivotal time in American History. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, under the Trump Administration, Press Freedoms have been dubbed “no longer a given” by the organization.

Student reporting and radio operations are becoming more crucial by the day to cover important topics larger media outlets look away from, and the stripping of funding follows a dangerous step for KSU’s perspective on Press and Broadcasting Freedoms.

This follows a concerning enrollment pattern in KSU’s journalism program while other university papers, such as the University of Georgia’s Red & Black and Emory University’s The Emory Wheel, continue to thrive. Editorial Board: KSU’s Neglect of Student Media Is Unacceptable

The university’s journalism program, which did not exist until 2017 according to Campus Enrollment Data, saw early success, with peak enrollment numbers in 2018 and 2020. However, the program has seen a steady decline since 2021.

Instead of taking the time to invest in its journalism students, KSU has opted to invest into their athletic department, pouring millions of dollars into sports and freshmen generations, including a $15 million dollar naming deal with FifthThirds Stadium and a lack of housing or class priority for students who classify as non-freshman.

Fundamentally, Kennesaw State’s recent history has been defined by an administration that has neglected the student body and proven repeatedly that KSU’s priorities are financially tied to athletics and tuition revenue from incoming classes.

To have a thriving campus community, KSU must invest in its student body. Students want a university that cares for each student, not how many students it can accept and pack into a classroom or a stadium. A university is only as great as its students’ success, and without true support, KSU will always fall short.

OWL Radio, The Sentinel and The Peak are calling for the support of the student body, faculty and alumni by donating to Student Media through KSU’s Giving Day. Any amount helps and will allow Student Media to continue quality, student led content.

Signed Kennesaw State University Student Media Editors and Managers, Zaire Breedlove, Devyn Byers, Alexis Barton, Tye Brown, Devyn Woodard, Joey Hawthorne, Mary Wingate, Mafe Gomez, James Harris, Jordan Scruggs, Scott Daniell, Jackson Louneoubon

×