Expressions

Expressions cover
Image Source: Expressions, Spring 2004, Issue 4

The Fall 2020 edition of Expressions describes the magazine as “ECU’s literary arts publication that strives to provide an alternative voice for underrepresented populations. We exist as an outlet to address the experiences, concerns, and perspectives of minority students.” As a literary arts publication, Expressions is a cousin to REBEL, ECU’s prize-winning arts and literary magazine first published in 1985. But Expressions finds its roots in another student publication, Ebony Herald, which ran from 1975-1984 as an alternative newspaper seeking to provide attention to campus news, cultural events, and social developments related first and foremost to the African American student body, and then over time to minority groups at large that were underrepresented or simply ignored by publications such as Fountainhead and then later after it reappeared, the East Carolinian. In many respects, Expressions blends the literary and artistic trends so evident in REBEL with the mission pioneered by Ebony Herald affirming student voices long omitted or consigned to the recesses of campus life. As readers of Expressions surely realize, it goes well beyond its predecessors on many counts.

Like other new publications, Expressions faced challenges in establishing itself as a credible force. Despite quickly winning the Associated Collegiate Press Award for layout and design, it was subjected to a funding moratorium by the ECU Media Board for its purported lack of involvement by all minority groups on campus. Defenders of the publication responded that the Media Board was engaging in a racist push to terminate the magazine. After making a variety of proposals for improvement, the Media Board appointed Gay Wilentz (1950-2006), a professor of black literature in the English Department, as faculty advisor. It also implemented other organizational changes. By the early 1990s, the magazine emerged as a perennial prizewinner in competitions sponsored by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association and the Associated Collegiate Press, and as a solid, well-established component of ECU student publications.

In addition to its longstanding concern with African American voices, Expressions has featured the LGBTQ community, promoting its increasing recognition on campus especially following the establishment of the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center. Expressions have also covered religious and political topics in pieces such as “Islam and Democracy: A Theoretical Perspective.” Often muted subjects such as campus rape have been examined with personal testimonials and reflections in an effort to offer healing for victims through dialogue and recognition, and most importantly to help achieve prevention through awareness.

With deliberate calculation and cooperation with ECU administration, Expressions has explored the bounds of student photographic art without shying away from nudity: in the fall of 2012, the magazine included a piece, “Hidden in plain view,” featuring six full-page photographs depicting male and female frontal nudity. The spread prompted controversy on campus and in the larger community, with many wondering whether the magazine was intent on art or simply media attention. One thing was clear, Expressions made a name for itself as a publication willing to push the envelope in exploring the hitherto marginalized bounds of photography.

In addition to traditional paper and ink format, Expressions has embraced cutting-edge digital technologies, delivering its contents in various formats on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, as well as through electronic formats such as ISSUU. With visually stunning page designs, photographs, and artistically sensitive presentations of often disturbing topics, Expressions has established itself as one of ECU’s most valuable and innovative student publications, making heard, seen, and felt those voices formerly marginalized if not forced, through denial, into silence.

Sources

Additional Related Material

Image Source: Expressions, December 6, 2012. https://www.wral.com/nude-photos-in-ecu-student-magazine-raise-eyebrows/11878271/

Image Source: Expressions, December 6, 2012. https://www.facebook.com/expressionsatECU/photos/208791592593764

Image Source: Expressions, 2017/2018

Citation Information

Title: Expressions

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 3/8/2021

To top