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What is the Radford University Tartan?
The Radford University Tartan is Radford University's student newspaper, published under that name and covering campus life, local news, arts and national stories. Its homepage presents dated article cards with a section label, headline, byline and a short teaser, which is the standard layout of a student-run news site.
What it covers
The mix of sections shows how it serves its readers:
- Campus and local news — student government, events and town-and-gown stories, such as the "Fall Into the New" gathering at Bisset Park.
- Arts and culture — student work and exhibitions, such as a senior photography collection on architecture.
- Sports — Radford teams and their seasons, such as women's soccer turning to Big South play.
- National and opinion — student-written commentary and reported pieces on wider issues, including imposter syndrome, name, image and likeness rules in college athletics, and national politics.
Who it is for
Its primary audience is Radford students, faculty and staff, plus alumni and New River Valley residents who want campus news from a student perspective. Readers should expect undergraduate reporting: energetic and locally focused, with less editorial polish than a professional daily. That is also its value — it documents student voices, campus events and athletic seasons that outside outlets rarely cover.
How to use it
If you are a prospective student or parent, read the news and sports sections to gauge campus life beyond the admissions brochure. If you are a current student, the opinion and arts pages are the most direct route to getting involved, since student newspapers typically welcome contributors. For alumni, it is a quick way to follow teams and campus changes.
A practical next step: start with the section that matches your interest rather than the homepage feed, and check article dates, since the site mixes current stories with older ones. For official university information such as admissions, academic programs or calendars, use Radford University instead; the Tartan is independent student journalism, not an administrative source.
How can I submit a story or opinion piece to the Tartan?
Contact the editorial team directly: student newspapers like the Tartan typically accept pitches and finished pieces by email, and the masthead or contact page is where the current editor's address lives. Since the paper runs both reported campus news and signed opinion columns, say up front which one you're offering.
What to send
- A short pitch first for news: two or three sentences on what happened, who's affected, and why it matters to Radford readers.
- The full piece for opinion: most student papers want 500–800 words, written in third person, with a clear argument rather than a rant.
- Your name, year, and major if you're a student, plus a phone number or campus email.
- Sources and links for any factual claim in a news story — names, titles, dates, documents.
Opinion vs. news
| Opinion piece | News story | |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | First person, argued | Third person, reported |
| Length | Shorter, tighter | Varies with the event |
| Editing | Light, for clarity and libel | Heavier, for accuracy and balance |
| Best pitch | Full draft | Short query |
Practical notes
Editors work on a weekly cycle, so a pitch sent the day before publication usually misses. Ask about the deadline for the issue you're targeting, and expect at least one round of edits. If your piece touches a club, team, or department you belong to, mention it — disclosure is normal and protects you.
For a sense of what the paper already covers, browse recent issues at The Tartan and match your idea to a section that actually runs that kind of story. If the Tartan doesn't have a public submission address posted, ask a current staff member or the student media adviser how pitches are handled this semester.
Where can I find the Tartan's coverage of Radford Highlanders athletics?
The Tartan, Radford University's student newspaper, covers Highlanders athletics on its own site at The Tartan. Its sports reporting sits alongside campus arts, local news and opinion, so athletics stories appear as part of the paper's regular news feed rather than in a separate fan or ticket portal.
What the sports coverage looks like
From the page evidence, Tartan athletics articles are written by student staff and focus on team results, turning points and what comes next. A representative example is a women's soccer report on the Highlanders' draw with ETSU and the team's shift toward Big South conference play, filed by Andrew Marchetti. That pattern—match recap, coach or player context, forward look—is typical of student-paper sports writing and is useful if you want a quick, campus-side read rather than a full statistical breakdown.
How to use it
- For a broad view of Radford sports, start at the Tartan homepage and scan the sports or news categories; athletics stories are mixed with general campus coverage.
- For a specific team, search the site by sport name (for example, "women's soccer" or "Highlanders") to pull up past recaps and previews.
- For official schedules, rosters and results, the athletic department's own site is the better source; the Tartan adds narrative and student perspective that a box score won't.
If you're following a particular Highlanders team, check the Tartan after each match weekend—student papers typically publish recaps within a few days, and the site's archive lets you trace a season's storyline from non-conference play into Big South competition.
What local events and issues does the Tartan report on in the New River Valley?
The Tartan, Radford University's student newspaper, covers a mix of campus life, local community events and broader issues affecting the New River Valley, with student reporters often tying national debates back to the region.
Local events and community coverage
- "Fall Into the New" at Bisset Park: The paper reported on this annual gathering along the New River, which drew more than 100 people. This is the kind of event coverage that shows how the Tartan documents community traditions rather than just campus news.
- Student and alumni achievements: Stories on a senior's photography exhibit about architecture and a Radford alumnus releasing a book on staying active illustrate the paper's interest in people with local ties.
Local issues and campus-adjacent debates
- Radford women's soccer: Coverage of the Highlanders' draw with ETSU and their turn toward Big South play reflects the paper's regular sports reporting.
- NIL at Radford University: A piece examining name, image and likeness deals asks whether the new era of college athletics is "changing the game or widening the gap" — a local angle on a national issue.
- National stories with local relevance: Topics like imposter syndrome awareness, religion in public schools and federal shutdown effects on airports appear alongside local news, suggesting the Tartan aims to connect wider debates to its readers' lives.
How to use this
If you're looking for a specific event or issue, check the paper's sections — Local News, Arts, Environmental News, National News and Sports — since that's how the Tartan organizes its coverage. For a broader view of the region, compare its reporting with other outlets covering the New River Valley, such as The Roanoke Times.
How do I contact the Tartan's editorial staff with a news tip or correction?
The Tartan's editorial staff is reached through the newsroom contacts published in the print edition and on the paper's own site, not through a general university switchboard. Because student newsrooms change staff each semester, the reliable path is to look for the current editor-in-chief or section editor listed on the masthead page, then use the email address tied to that role rather than a personal one.
For a news tip or correction, a short email works best:
- Put "News tip" or "Correction" in the subject line so it routes to the right editor.
- For a correction, name the article, its publication date and the specific sentence or figure that is wrong, and include the correct information with a source.
- For a tip, give the who, what, when and where up front, note whether you have documents or photos, and say how you can be reached.
- If the item is time-sensitive, say so in the first line.
A concrete scenario: a reader spots a misspelled name in a soccer recap. Emailing the sports editor with the headline, date and correct spelling gets a fix into the online version quickly; a general "your paper has errors" message usually sits unread.
If no current address is listed, contact the student media adviser or the university's student media office, which can forward material to the sitting editor. The Tartan publishes its own masthead and contact details, so start there before trying other channels.
Does the Tartan publish student art, photography, and creative work?
Yes. The Tartan, Radford University's student newspaper at rutartan.com, publishes student creative work alongside campus and national news. The page evidence includes a feature on senior Kaylee Ligon's photography exhibit, "The Art in Architecture," written by Angelina Capots, which profiles a student artist and her collection. That is a direct example of student visual work getting editorial coverage.
What the coverage looks like
The paper's arts section covers student exhibitions and creative projects, while its news, sports and opinion sections run separately. The listed items also include a student-written book release by alumnus Kyle Gonzalez and an annual community event, showing that creative and cultural topics sit within a broader campus-news mix.
If you want your work featured
- Watch the arts section for exhibit, collection and performance coverage.
- Pitch a student artist profile or review with a clear angle: what the work is, where it is shown and why it matters now.
- Expect creative pieces to be reported on by student writers rather than simply posted as galleries.
Other student outlets
For comparison, other campus papers handle creative work differently, such as Collegiate Times at Virginia Tech. The Tartan's approach is editorial coverage of student art, not a general submission gallery, so the practical route is to contact the paper with a concrete story idea.
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