The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA)’s yearbook, The Raven, made almost $9,000 in profit less than the student association accounted for in their 2015-16 budget.
The Raven made $16,180, falling short of the $25,000 goal.
From 1942 to 1980, The Raven was published annually, showcasing student life on campus. The yearbook stopped publishing for nearly 36 years, before being revived in 2016.
According to CUSA president Fahd Alhattab, the main buyers of this year’s edition of The Raven were graduates.
Despite also targeting first-year students, they did not buy the yearbook in great numbers, he said. Alhattab said he is hoping that will change next year.
Normally, yearbook sales only begin in the second semester, but this year will be different, according to Alhattab. Students can preorder yearbooks immediately in the first semester.
“We are engaging [first years] in fall orientation from the beginning,” Alhattab said. “So right as they are signing up for fall orientation, they can purchase an add-on which is a yearbook.”
According to Alhattab, first-year students are accustomed to purchasing yearbooks in high school, and may be more inclined to purchase them.
“We’ll be doing a lot of giveaways and a lot of contests,” Alhattab said, as a way to promote the yearbook.
Student opinion varies on the yearbook. Elizabeth Searle, a recent Carleton graduate from the French program, said via text that she did not realize the yearbook exists.
“I had no idea it was a thing, honestly,” Searle said. “It’s not advertised well, but I don’t think I would get it anyways unless I was involved in like 50 different clubs on campus.”
“[I] just thought all that stopped after high school,” Searle said. “Plus, any memories university students would want in a yearbook are all over Facebook.”
Asber Tekle, a third-year engineering student, said he did not buy a copy of the yearbook this year, but might in the future when he graduates to remember Carleton.
Next year’s edition of the yearbook has already been approved in the 2016-17 budget, with CUSA expecting it to bring in $35,000 in revenue.
— With files from News Editors
