Quill & Scroll Society

Every October, I come to the heartland for a weekend for the annual board meeting of the Quill & Scroll Society, an international honor society for high school journalists. The organization got its start in 1926 on the campus of the University of Iowa and, so, this is where 11 of us come from all corners of the country to conduct whatever business is necessary to keep the organization financially solvent and give the staff direction and support on the different programs we offer.

I've been on the board for something like six or seven years now and today was re-elected to another four-year term. It's great to be able to serve in this capacity, considering that I was inducted into Quill & Society as a high school senior, with an honor cord and all. The society has more than 11,000 chapters around the world and offers a variety of services, including critiques, contests and college scholarships.

The history of this organization is remarkable in terms of its continuity. In its entire history, there have been only three executive directors and the current one, Vanessa Shelton, is only in her second year on the job. She was preceded by Richard Johns, who welcomed me onto the board years ago and who continues to serve as board president following his retirement last year.

The Society is based in Iowa City and is pretty well established in the Midwest, but seems to have less of a foothold on both coasts. That's why I've welcomed the opportunity to serve on the board, not just for reasons of geographic and ethnic diversity, but also because I'm able to bring the perspective of a working journalist as well as that of a first-generation college graduate.

Today felt especially good because the board adopted criteria for a new scholarship, named after Dick Johns, that gives preference to applicants who have financial need, are among the first in their family to attend college, and are of racial or ethnic minority group.

No question, Quill & Scroll faces similar challenges in today's environment that aren't much different from the newspaper industry: how to maintain and grow membership while keeping membership costs affordable; how to expand into inner-city schools, which typically have less resources than suburban counterparts; how to stay relevant in the Internet age; how to compete for and retain the attention of our customers (students and their advisers), who represent a constantly changing base.

I left this year's board meeting encouraged by what I sensed was a new sense of urgency to build up our membership by telling our story to high schools around the country and brainstorming new ways to promote the Society and its services. I'll get the chance to put up or shut up next spring, when the National High School Journalism Convention comes to Portland next spring. Hundreds of journalism advisers and students will be coming to town April 16-18, 2010, and I've pledged to work with the president of the Oregon Journalism Education Association -- Erin Simonsen of Lakeridge High School -- to identify potential program topics and speakers from The Oregonian. Clearly, it will be a prime opportunity for Quill & Scroll to broadcast its message to a friendly audience.