Despite losing its UNM funding, Scribendi is determined to publish this year, as staff members of the student-produced magazine are reaching out to the local community for help, emphasizing the important role Scribendi has within the student community.
In terms of student publications, Scribendi has helped put UNM on the map in its 30 years of existence. Alexandra Magel, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, said many students and instructors from all across the country have UNM on their radar because of it.
If Scribendi were to not be published, and the magazine still needs to raise about $8,000 to reach that goal, UNM would lose that national stage, and many students — ranging from contributors, readers and future staff members — would not have the opportunity to be part of a larger community of art and discussion, Magel said.
“Artists would lose an opportunity to be published and readers would miss out on the art they would no longer have easy access to,” she said.
Managing Editor Melissa Krukar said Scribendi was established at UNM in 1985, and the website has a list of all the staff members Scribendi has had since then.
“I guess every person on that list would say that Scribendi was an, incredible experimental, formative, learning experience,” Krukar said. “In addition, getting published in Scribendi is an important stepping stone for the next generation of writers and artists.”
As editor-in-chief, Magel’s role is to work closely with Krukar to ensure the next edition of the magazine exhibits the same level of quality as previous editions, she said.
However, Scribendi was changing Magel’s life even before she became a staff member.
“I vividly remember the pieces I read in the first copy of the magazine I picked up and the new perspectives I learned from them,” she said. “If the magazine were to not be published, readers couldn’t get that same experience.”
Thus far, the team at Scribendi has had a fundraiser at Bistronomy B2B in Nob Hill, organized a silent auction, raised money by selling sugar skulls, and worked with the UNM Foundation to organize a crowdfunding event, Magel said. Staff members forecast they will have more events in the spring.
“I am one member in a small, hardworking community of students that all strive to keep the magazine we believe in thriving,” she said.
Many organizations and individuals have reached out to help Scribendi, Magel said. Among them are the Western Regional Honors Council, the UNM provost, alumni of Scribendi, and local businesses who donated to the silent auction.
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At press time, Scribendi needed about $8,000 to go to print after having about one-third of its budget pulled by the Associated Students of UNM in the spring.
According to Magel, if Scribendi does not work to make up the loss, the future of the magazine is in danger. But she isn’t going to take the end of the magazine lying down.
“If we don’t make our quota before our publishing date in the spring, I have vowed to personally ensure that we publish somehow, even if it means I have to print and staple every magazine by hand,” she said, “I will not let the magazine, a piece of the world that means so much to me, go unpublished.”
Although her personal vow can’t ensure Scribendi will publish the next year, if the magazine can’t afford to go to print it sets a “frightening” precedent for print publications at UNM, she said.
Through their recent fundraising attempts, Scribendi has been able to further affirm what the magazine represents: a community of people coming together for something they care about, Magel said.
“So much planning went into the crowdfunding event. Our entire team worked so hard to plan every aspect, from building the webpage, to making the video, to writing the language, to working with UNM Foundation, to brainstorming cool rewards for our donors,” Magel said.
The event is a big undertaking, but one the staff believes will pay off, she said.
“Like most crowdfunding events, we’re offering our donors some snazzy rewards. If anyone is interested in Scribendi, feel free to call us, email us, or message us on Facebook. We respond pretty quickly,” Magel said.
Although the future is uncertain, Krukar said she wanted to mention the friends and family members of Scribendi staff who have been supportive both financially and emotionally.
“Having our funding cut spoke volumes to us about what is valued on campus and what is not. However, the defunding prompted so much community support that we still feel like our work is valuable,” she said.
Scribendi has since re-chartered and will request funds from ASUNM in the spring as the publication is inching closer to have enough funding for publication through the much needed continued help of the community, Krukar said.
Every penny counts. The problem with funding is not only that Scribendi wants to print a high-quality magazine, but they also want to put enough copies to satisfy their ever-growing national readership, she said.
“We really don’t want to think about what would happened if we don’t get enough funding. We feel very hopeful and optimistic that Scribendi 2017 will be published,” Krukar said.
Nichole Harwood is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
