It’s on every print cover, it’s on the website masthead and our official Twitter account has it listed as its birthday:
“Since 1918.”
The paper’s year of conception is a fact so important to The Ubyssey, that the 2016-2018 Coordinating Editor Jack Hauen seemed to think that it’s also when the university was founded.
The Ubyssey has had an illustrious history. From the end of World War I to now, the newspaper has committed to the highest standard of journalism. With countless awards and recognition from its newspaper-y peers, The Ubyssey is a shiny pillar of integrity. This year, The Ubyssey will undoubtedly pull out all the stops to celebrate the centennial of everyone’s favourite campus newspaper.
But, what if I told you that the very foundation of The Ubyssey’s history is based on a lie?
It was founded in 1916.
Well, at least Ubicee was. First published just under the name “Anon” and then “Anonymous” before becoming the easy-to-pronounce “Ubicee,” the Ubicee was a monthly magazine founded in 1916. This was back when UBC was still at its Fairview campus, on the site of Vancouver General Hospital. The university had a population of 380 students, so Ubicee was probably really more of a zine than a full magazine. It included “well-written essays and literary contributions,” and was solely funded by volunteer subscriptions.
In 1917, the AMS issued a mandatory $2 student fee to beef up the low Ubicee budget. With the extra money, the magazine focused its energy on becoming more student-issues focused, in the form of a weekly paper. The newspaper officially introduced itself as The Ubyssey in October of 1918, forever damning itself to the next 100 years of mispronunciations and journalistic glory.
So the next time you pick up a copy of The Ubyssey, think about the 102 year history that you’re holding in your hands — and please remember to throw it in the recycling when you’re done reading the lie on the masthead.
Share this article
