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Author: Jaira Williams

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  • Arts & Living

LGBTQ Resource Center provides comfort, shopping experience for students

  • Jaira Williams
  • October 10, 2022
  • 0

The LGBTQ Resource Center provides students with support, resources and a comfortable shopping experience.

  • Arts & Living

Mid-Autumn Festival celebration

  • Jaira Williams
  • September 26, 2022
  • 0

Students and cultural departments gathered to celebrate and admire a national Chinese tradition.

Owl Spotlight: Alex Dahlberg
  • Arts & Living

Owl Spotlight: Alex Dahlberg

  • Jaira Williams
  • September 12, 2022
  • 0

After surviving a coma and a life-threatening illness, a Kennesaw State student has returned to college dedicated and optimistic.

Coffee house provides students inclusion, comfort
  • Arts & Living

Coffee house provides students inclusion, comfort

  • Jaira Williams
  • September 7, 2022
  • 0

Independent Grounds Cafe is a local coffee house with a mission of inclusion, supporting its community and providing resources for individuals with disabilities.

CARES welcomes students with free pantry giveaway
  • Arts & Living

CARES welcomes students with free pantry giveaway

  • Jaira Williams
  • August 23, 2022
  • 0

KSU CARES hosted a Pop-Up Pantry giveaway, providing students free groceries during campus Weeks of Welcome.

  • Arts & Living

Department of Student Activities hosts Halloween movie night

  • Jaira Williams
  • November 1, 2021
  • 0

The Kennesaw State University Department of Student Activities hosted a Halloween-themed movie night featuring Hocus Pocus on the Campus Green.

Department of Health Promotion and Wellness hosts Fall Festival for alcohol awareness and safety
  • Arts & Living

Department of Health Promotion and Wellness hosts Fall Festival for alcohol awareness and safety

  • Jaira Williams
  • October 25, 2021
  • 0

Kennesaw State’s Fall Festival provided students with information on alcohol safety featuring mock-tails, an alcohol impairment simulation and a car accident simulation.

  • Arts & Living

Halloween safety is easy, necessary

  • Jaira Williams
  • October 18, 2021
  • 0

Halloween festivities may feel extra scary as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are still ways to stay safe while celebrating.

  • Arts & Living

Poetry as Self-Care Workshop CPS holds poetry as self-care workshop to teach coping skills

  • Jaira Williams
  • October 18, 2021
  • 0

KSU’s faculty and staff are providing students with an additional outlet to express their poetry and creativity in a safe and comfortable space.

  • Arts & Living

The Commons hosts night of jazz performances

  • Jaira Williams
  • October 4, 2021
  • 0

The Kennesaw State Jazz Combos graced the Commons on the Kennesaw campus Sept. 28 with a selection of jazz favorites.

Professor of the week: Garrard Conley
  • Arts & Living

Professor of the week: Garrard Conley

  • Jaira Williams
  • September 27, 2021
  • 0

Garrard Conley is an assistant professor of creative writing who shared how his life experiences influence his teaching.

The Sentinel logo

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.

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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

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