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What is The Tartan?
The Tartan is Carnegie Mellon University's student newspaper, published independently by students since 1906 and covering campus life alongside the surrounding Pittsburgh area — Oakland, Squirrel Hill, and the wider region.
Its sections show what that mix looks like in practice:
- News — CMU administration, campus construction, and local Pittsburgh stories
- Sports — varsity coverage, athlete spotlights, and professional Pittsburgh teams
- Features — dining, clubs, and student life
- Opinion/Forum — editorials, op-eds, and letters to the editor
- SciTech, pillbox, Music, Movies, Comics — science and technology reporting plus arts and culture
For a prospective student, a parent, or an alum trying to follow CMU, it works as a student-eye view that official university communications won't give you: reporting on campus controversies, administrative decisions, and the texture of day-to-day student life. For Pittsburgh readers, the local coverage adds a neighborhood-level angle.
The main trade-off is that it's a student operation — coverage is uneven, some pieces are clearly written by newcomers, and it publishes on an academic calendar rather than a daily news cycle. Treat it as a perspective and a campus pulse, not a record of authority.
A useful next step: if you're considering CMU or moving to Pittsburgh, read the News and Features sections over a couple of months rather than a single visit — the pattern of what students argue about tells you more than any one article. The site also offers an email newsletter signup if you'd rather follow along passively.
How can I access the latest issue of The Tartan online?
The latest issue is available directly on the newspaper's own site. Go to The Tartan and look for the PaperPDF link in the main navigation; that is where the current print edition is posted. The same menu also carries the section feeds, so you can read individual stories without downloading the full issue.
What you will find there
- PaperPDF — the full issue as a single document, closest to the printed paper.
- Section pages — News, CMU News, Pittsburgh News, Features, Forum, SciTech, Sports, pillbox, Music, Movies, Comics, Natrat.
- Spotlighted Stories — a rotating set of the most recent campus pieces.
Choosing your route
| If you want | Use |
|---|---|
| The complete issue as printed | PaperPDF |
| One story, fast | The section page or homepage feed |
| Ongoing updates between issues | The homepage and section feeds |
A practical next step
If you are following a specific topic — campus construction, athletics, or student government — start with the section page rather than the PDF, since stories appear there as they are published. Use PaperPDF when you need the issue as a complete record, for example if you are citing it for a class or checking what ran in a given week.
For updates pushed to you rather than pulled on demand, the site offers a newsletter signup; that is the better fit if you would otherwise forget to check back.
What types of stories does The Tartan cover about Carnegie Mellon University?
The Tartan covers Carnegie Mellon University through a mix of campus news, sports, opinion, features, and student life, with some coverage extending to Oakland, Squirrel Hill, and the wider Pittsburgh area. Its beat is the university as a community: what its administration does, what students think about it, and what daily life around it looks like.
Campus news and administration This is the paper's core. Recent items include CMU's rise in the U.S. News national university rankings, construction progress on the Hall of Sciences, paused LCAL meetings after a Dietrich professor's social media posts, and expanded IEX investigations involving Fence painters. Coverage also reaches campus infrastructure, such as storm-related flooding and electrical damage.
Sports Coverage runs from varsity results to athlete profiles. Examples include an Athlete Spotlight on Savannah Xu, weekly Athlete of the Week selections, NCAA football rankings and officiating controversies, and a Pittsburgh Pirates season post-mortem. Professional Pittsburgh teams appear alongside CMU teams.
Opinion and forum Student columnists and the editorial board weigh in on campus and city issues. Recent pieces include an EdBoard on dark humor, an argument that Pittsburgh needs fewer Waymo vehicles, a column on not being busy, and letters to the editor.
Features and student life These stories profile clubs, culture, and campus routines: dining changes with Korean cuisine, the Witchcraft Club, the Bridge Club's Collegiate Bridge Bowl plans, the history of Jehovah's Witnesses on campus, and student-built resale platforms.
SciTech, arts, and other sections The section list also includes SciTech, Music, Movies, Comics, Pillbox, and Novel-Tea, covering research developments and arts criticism.
A useful next step If you want one section, go straight to it rather than browsing the front page: a prospective student might read Features and Sports for a feel of campus life, while a current student tracking an administrative dispute would start with News and Forum. Expect student-written reporting with a campus-first perspective, and treat opinion pieces as argument rather than verified reporting. The paper is published by Carnegie Mellon students at The Tartan.
How can I get involved with The Tartan as a student?
Getting involved with The Tartan usually starts with reading the sections you'd like to contribute to, then emailing the relevant editor through the contact page. As Carnegie Mellon's student newspaper, it publishes news, features, opinion, sports, science and technology, and arts coverage, so there's a place for most interests.
Practical routes in
- News and campus reporting: Pitch or take assignments covering CMU, Oakland, Squirrel Hill, and the wider Pittsburgh area.
- Sports: Match reports, athlete spotlights, and season analysis; the paper runs regular athlete-of-the-week and spotlight pieces.
- Features: Campus life, dining, clubs, and student projects — useful if you prefer longer, human-interest writing.
- Opinion and Forum: Op-eds, letters, and columns. These are often the lowest-barrier entry point for a first-time writer.
- Arts and culture: Music, movies, comics, and the "pillbox" section, which suits reviewers and illustrators.
- Production roles: Copy editing, layout, illustration, and photography are less visible but frequently needed.
A concrete first step
Pick one recent article in your preferred section, note the byline and section editor, then send a short email introducing yourself, naming that section, and proposing one specific story idea with two or three sentences on why it matters to campus readers. Editors respond better to a ready idea than to a general offer to help.
Deciding where to start
| If you want... | Try... |
|---|---|
| Fast publication, low commitment | Opinion/Forum or a short news brief |
| Portfolio clips for journalism | News or Features |
| Regular beat experience | Sports or SciTech |
| Non-writing involvement | Copy editing, layout, comics, photography |
Weekly or biweekly contributions are typical for student papers, so expect to balance this against coursework. Attending an open meeting or info session, if one is advertised, is the quickest way to learn current needs and deadlines.
Does The Tartan offer a newsletter subscription?
Yes. The Tartan offers a newsletter signup, with a "Join The Newsletter" link on the site. It's the paper's own mailing list, so you get its stories and updates delivered rather than having to check the homepage.
Who it's for: Carnegie Mellon students, staff and alumni, plus Oakland, Squirrel Hill and wider Pittsburgh readers who want campus and local coverage in one place, including sections like News, Sports, Features, Opinion and SciTech.
A practical next step: Subscribe, then skim a few issues to see whether the mix of campus news, Pittsburgh stories and opinion matches what you want. If you mainly follow one area, such as Sports, reading the site directly may suit you better than a general digest.
Decision criterion: Choose the newsletter if you prefer a periodic roundup; use the site itself if you want to browse by section or catch breaking campus news as it appears.
What is the editorial stance of The Tartan on current issues?
The Tartan does not publish one house editorial line that covers every issue. Its editorial voice is split across formats, and the strongest positions appear in the EdBoard and Opinion sections rather than in the news pages. From the material available, the paper presents a left-leaning, campus-focused perspective: it argues that dark humor should “punch up, not down,” and one opinion piece calls feminism “the only rational reaction.” Those are signed or board opinions, not neutral reporting.
For readers trying to judge the stance, separate three layers:
- EdBoard: the newspaper’s institutional voice, where it takes a collective position.
- Op-Ed and letters: individual columnists and readers, which can disagree with one another.
- News: campus, Pittsburgh and sports coverage, which is not the place to look for an editorial line.
A practical example: a reader following the Dietrich professor controversy or the IEX/Fence painting investigations will find reported news alongside opinion, but the paper’s own view is most clearly expressed in the EdBoard and columns. Treat the opinion pages as the editorial stance and the news pages as the record.
If you want to track the stance over time, read the EdBoard archive first, then compare it with signed columns. That shows where the board and its columnists diverge. The Tartan is Carnegie Mellon’s student newspaper, so its editorial focus is campus and Pittsburgh rather than national policy.
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