In the basement of the Lory Student Center, a large framed photo hangs right in the entryway of the Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation offices. It’s hard to miss for anyone coming in, whether they are a visitor or an employee of RMSMC. Dated 1896 at the bottom of the frame, it shows seven students of Colorado State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts hunched over a table, poring over stacks of news text.

They’re one of the first editorial boards of The Rocky Mountain Collegian, and every day I walk into my office, I walk past them and, oftentimes, stop and examine the photograph.

It’s so significant to all of us at The Collegian that we even imitated it when shooting a cover photo for our April Fools’ edition last year, posing in the same style as the students in the photograph.

I often wonder about them, the people in the photograph: R.W. Hawley, editor in chief; R.T. Calkins, literary editor; A.S. McKee, business editor; H.O. Brown, society editor; J.M. Loud, local editor; T.V. Norgaard exchange editor; and B.A. Gage, advertising editor.

I frequently think: What were their lives like? Did they stay in Fort Collins once they graduated? What did they do with their lives? And possibly the thing I wonder most: What would they think about The Collegian if they could see it today?

As someone who cares a great deal both about history and what other people think, it sometimes seems like I can almost feel their eyes drifting off of the pages they’re editing. It’s like they’re watching me march down the hall, off to edit pages and stories and corral ideas and staff members. That might sound intimidating. But to me, it’s comforting — there are 133 years of editorial boards behind us, and they stand with us with each day, through each difficulty.

“Over 133 years, students have breathed life into a few slim pages. Over 133 years, this paper has harbored storytellers, graced their lives for a brief time and brought them together. The late nights, the adrenaline of chasing a story, the collective exhaustion around cups of coffee and the inside jokes have been a home for 133 years of students — long before any of us were a thought. If we’ve done our jobs right, it’ll be around long after us as well.”

If I could meet anyone in history, the original editorial board of The Collegian cracks the top 10 list. I want to know so much — how did they secure those first few advertisers? What did the campus look like? And most pressingly, did they have any idea that their little paper — delayed several months to its initial publication — would still be a mainstay on campus 133 years later, start a journalism department and a student government and irrevocably interweave itself with campus culture?

Practically everything about Fort Collins and Colorado State University has changed, but The Collegian still stands.

For those of us fortunate enough to be on the inside of it, the paper is like a secret club. At a conference recently, one of our editors and I met an old adviser of The Collegian. Giggly and giddy, we swapped stories and compared names, mostly then-staff members who are now professional connections. All of us smiled fondly while laughing about the trials and tribulations this paper puts us all through.

Every time any of us meet someone who either read or was a part of The Collegian during their time at CSU, it’s almost like meeting a long-lost cousin. Suddenly, we’re gossiping about late nights in the newsroom, laughing about various mishaps and sharing a certain unspoken kinship — the kinship of those who have given everything they have to the cause of this paper.

It takes a certain kind of person to devote themself to The Collegian, and all of us who love it understand that it’s not without sacrifices: the late nights in the office, the general lack of a social life, the inability to switch the journalist brain off even when the paper is put to print. A 2011 editorial for The Collegian‘s birthday described the relationship some of the staff had with the paper akin to dating. For me, it’s more like I suddenly gained custody of a very needy child who has a complicated past who I’m not sure I’ll ever fully understand.

My first editor in chief described it as something we all talk about like it’s a “living sentient being,” but I see it more as a reflection of us. Over 133 years, students have breathed life into a few slim pages. Over 133 years, this paper has harbored storytellers, graced their lives for a brief time and brought them together. The late nights, the adrenaline of chasing a story, the collective exhaustion around cups of coffee and the inside jokes have defined a home for 133 years of students — long before any of us were a thought. If we’ve done our jobs right, it’ll be around long after us as well.

Dec. 8 marks the 133rd birthday of The Rocky Mountain Collegian, and it’s hard to know how to properly celebrate the anniversary of something that feels so much like a gift to be a part of. I feel the weight of the 133 years every time I walk past that photograph, but I also understand how lucky I am to be leading something that has meant so much to so many people for such a large number of years.

So as Dec. 8 approaches, happy birthday, beautiful, infuriating, wonderful, chaotic, delightful, messy, challenging and ever-changing Collegian. It’s been the honor of my life thus far to be at your helm for this time.

Thank you for changing lives and telling stories.

With love,

Allie Seibel, editor in chief

Reach Allie Seibel at letters@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.