History of Nuances

 The first edition of Nuances came out in 1983.  Sister Rita Yeasted, Ph.D. came to La Roche College in 1980 and was surprised that there was no place for students to publish their work.  Sister Rita and the students managed to get a little money from the Academic Vice-President, Dr. Mary Stuart. Since La Roche didn’t have computers then, Colleen White typed the first issue and it was printed on campus. Denise Berry, who was a graphic design major, designed the cover, a circular wave swirl, and that stayed the cover design to “brand” the magazine each year.  For the next few years into the late 1980s Jacqueline Schlesinger did most of the typing. Schlesinger and Sister Rita both contributed to laying out the magazine. 

 

 At the time, Schlesinger was using her home personal computer to begin typing up Nuances long before La Roche had computers available to faculty and students. Sister Rita and Schlesinger would  put the magazine together. La Roche would then print the final copy of the magazine and make it available to the students.  

 

The next faculty sponsor of Nuances was Dr. Dorothy Saladiak, who retired right before Dr. Maher began teaching at La Roche.  In 1991, Alpha Gamma Phi, the college's chapter of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta, took over the editorial process with Dr. Michelle Maher as the faculty moderator.    Nuances was, and continues to be, very much a student-run organization.  One hundred copies of Nuances were published each summer in the form of a booklet.  Professor Tom Bates from the department of Graphic Design helped with the layout and design of the journal. Free copies of Nuances were distributed in August at the beginning of the school year, set out in stacks at various places around campus.  Then, as now, published works were exclusively from members of the La Roche College community, and students served as editors and proofreaders. 

 

 In 2002, Nuances began publishing online in order to eliminate the rising costs of printing and to reach a wider audience.  Nuances was able to go online through the help of Dr. Irene Joos and Dr. Lynn Archer, both of whom are faculty members in the Information Systems Technology Department.  Nuances continues to solicit poetry and fiction from members of La Roche College, including students, faculty, and staff.  The student editorial board meets each spring to decide which work will be published, and a new issue comes out every summer.  Our purpose has always been to provide a vehicle, particularly for La Roche College students, to publish their writing, and to give them a chance to share their work with a wider audience than might be found in a classroom.  It also provides an opportunity for students who enjoy reading and writing to hone their editorial skills. In essence, Nuances serves as an outlet for members of the La Roche College community to publish original, quality poetry and fiction.