On the campus of Quincy University, there was a newspaper, called the Falcon. From the days before the college would be named QU, a college newspaper was formed in December 1929. Throughout the years the paper would include stories of what occurred on the campus, from additions of buildings, announcements of student activities and their conclusions, fundraisers, special events, “clubhouse clatter”, faculty discussions, club elections and even weather reports. The paper included Classifieds, where students could contribute any comment to the section, no matter how unfocused or lewd the comments may have been. Interesting things were researched and shared, such as how Quincy College once used an orphanage building for their class/dormhouse.

In one particular issue of March 18, 1983, there was a farcical parody of newspaper reporting, called the Falcon Enquirent. In the tiny print above it can be read that this was a seasonal item for April, termed the “lampoon edition.”

“We don’t report the news, we just distort it,” read the subhead.

A parody article read “J-Board Use Death Penalty,” with a quote from Friar Ken, Chairman of the College Judicial Board, saying he will put his collective foot down as a result of widespread deviant behavior on the campus of Quincy College. The article stated he would enforce lethal injection on the next plea of mercy from “these oversexed, drug crazed post pubescents.”

A lot of pages were dedicated to this parodized paper, with another article talking about how maintenance was destroying QC, and how enrollment increased 67%.

“I am sorry that it’s gone. It was a great timeline for us, for archival reasons, so we’re really missing that piece now, which I’m a little concerned about in the future,” Susan Grant, education technology specialist, said. “If a student came in looking for a certain year, it won’t be here. But a lot of newspapers have gone down in value, because a lot of the stories are not as relevant, and they’re regurgitating kind of the same thing.”

“I miss The Falcon. You got to learn about students you wouldn’t have necessarily known about,” Grant said.

The last issue released was December 2019, with the headline ”Civility.” Shortly after that, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, and printing of the paper stopped. The company that originally printed The Falcon was sold in 2020, then COVID-19 ceased all distribution of the paper during that time. All future stories were uploaded on digital, QUMedia.net, which was started in April 2015. It is also understood that it is more cost efficient.

“It takes a lot of money to use printing ink and paper on a regular basis,” Medea Hall, a junior, said. “Besides, with all of the other options for students to use, it’s understandable why they would feel the need to stop printing.”

“I get my QU news from Facebook, Instagram, and emails,” Audrey Shelor, a junior, said. “I prefer to get my news on my phone because I am always on the go. Digitally, it’s more accessible.”