“Welcome to the Chimes. This is your paper; make it great.”
from the Chimes Stylebook 2024-2025
Capital University’s student newspaper The Chimes first went to press in the fall of 1926. In the early days, the weekly paper was the primary source of news for the student body and reflected the interests and events of the time: cigarette ads, requests for Capital women to support army efforts during wartime, and debates about the legal drinking age.
“The Chimes has been around so long and been through so many different stages,” said Adrian Suppes ‘25, who served as the paper’s editor-in-chief from 2023 to 2025. “It’s been a home for hundreds if not thousands of students over the years. Each person has been able to make their own little mark on it and make their own little changes.”
After 70 years of print, the newspaper fought to build an online platform. It was the early 2000s, and websites were harder to create and maintain. The current website finally made its online debut in October 2011 with articles about Occupy Wall Street, a chicken wing eating contest, and haunted locations in Ohio.
The Chimes expanded to social media in 2015 with posts about the opening of Capital Grounds and a staff trip to New Orleans. Scrolling through ten years of online history reveals the shifting nature of the paper, shaped by each group of students who devoted time to the project.
The transition to the digital world was guided by Professor Kelly Messinger, advisor to The Chimes from 1995 to 2025. Prior to her involvement, the paper was faxed to a part-time advisor who worked downtown and only communicated with the staff via “old-school analog telephone.”
“When you are in a position like this, you have to constantly stay on top of technology,” Messinger said. “You cannot just teach the same thing over and over again. You can’t do it. It’s a disservice to your students and the profession.”
Messinger envisioned the Chimes as a training ground for aspiring writers and pushed for journalistic excellence. She encouraged competition with other schools and secured a trophy case in the Convergent Media Center to house the staff’s many awards. Today, certificates representing their accomplishments cover the windows of the newsroom. In 2025 alone, the Chimes received four Pinnacle Awards from the College Media Association: 2nd place newspaper front page, 2nd place infographic, 3rd place headline, and 3rd place periodic newspaper of the year.
Above all, Messinger encouraged the staff to take themselves seriously as student journalists.
“My time on staff and in Kelly’s classes helped me learn to become a professional writer with a professional attitude,” Suppes said. “You’re not less important than other journalists. Your news is still news to the people you’re reporting for.”
When graduations and retirements left many of the paper’s key positions open, English professor Greg Belliveau took over as the paper’s advisor, and English major Clayton Hines became the Editor-in-Chief.
“When doors just appear before you, you always should at least knock on them,” Belliveau said. “This door was wide open, marked with a huge sign that read: WELCOME, GREG. Kelly Messinger came to my office, closed the door, and asked me to take over the Chimes when she retired. That was it. She mentored me for a year, and I have never looked back.”
“I felt that I had to step up,” Hines said. “I was rewatching one of my favorite movies, Dune, and this quote called out to me: ‘A great man doesn't seek to lead. He is called to it. And he answers.’"
Belliveau wanted to take the “well-oiled machine” he inherited and carry it forward with the fresh staff, 15 of whom were brand new and had never worked in journalism before. He got to work developing the training, skills, and culture that they needed, hoping to help them develop their talents and find out what excited them.
In their first semester working together, the new team produced more than 50 articles. They covered Capital’s new president, updates to Blackmore Library, university theatre productions, and movie reviews.
As Messinger did, Belliveau plans to train students for the evolving future of journalism. Upcoming projects include a weekly newsletter, an app, and a collaboration with Capital radio station WXCU.
“With the Chimes celebrating 100 years, it's really important that we honor our legacy while also planning for the future,” Hines said. “My hope is that we stay in print past when I graduate, while also boosting our already amazing website.”
“I see the Chimes becoming an integrated experience where students that want to learn Journalism in the 21st century will have a hands-on, immersive experience,” Belliveau said, “that will transform them as humans, provide them with valuable technical skills, and prepare them to make a difference in a world.”
The paper’s newest leaders also highlighted the importance of student journalism in today’s world.
“Student journalism right now is in a crisis,” Hines said. “We need to keep the art of journalism alive. I am happy that Capital has allowed us to breathe and given us the resources to maximize our experiences.
“Student journalism is crucial because it is where the ‘next person up’ comes from,” Belliveau said. “When student journalism dies, the professional world of journalism will die. There is no other way to say this. Student journalism is creating the journalists of the future.”
Beyond all the practical benefits of Capital’s student newspaper, the Chimes is also a special place where people connect by working as a team on a creative project.
“Some people thought I was crazy, but I thoroughly loved being the advisor to the Chimes,” Messinger said. “It was difficult sometimes, but I had fun.”
“I work with such talented students,” Belliveau said. “They are excited, enthusiastic to learn, and most importantly great humans who love each other and the Chimes specifically. Who wouldn't want to work with such people?”
Suppes offered words of encouragement to future Chimes staff as they take on the next 100 years.
“Just keep pursuing excellence,” Suppes said. “The reward will come along the way, and you’ll keep moving forward. Continue being the Chimes and being that stalwart of quality journalism in central Ohio.”
Historical issues of the Chimes are currently protected in the archives at Blackmore Library, and curious readers can find scans of 32 issues from the 1930s in the library’s digital collection.