First printed in 1914, The Current Sauce has been an independent voice for students at Northwestern State University, the oldest permanent site of higher education in Louisiana.

The weekend of March 8, 2014, NSU held a Centennial Celebration for current and past staff members of the ‘Sauce’ in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Dozens of former editors, designers, photographer, graphic artists, reporters, staff writers, columnists, and faculty members returned to campus to celebrate the role of The Current Sauce in Northwestern’s storied history.

In my four years at NSU, I served as a reporter and the business manager, gaining valuable experience in the field of journalism. In this newsroom, I learned how to manage a beat, cultivate sources, and mentoring from advisor Dr. Neil Ralston.

The weekend also featured a ribbon-cutting for a newly-remodeled newsroom for the Current Sauce in Kyser Hall and a digitized online archive featuring every edition of the newspaper.

A lovely banquet at the Natchitoches Events Center featured a rousing keynote by famed political consultant Raymond Strother, who also held the Erbon W. and Marie Wise Endowed Chair in Journalism at Northwestern in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

In his speech, Strother warned of impending assaults on the First Amendment, the importance of a free press in society, and the role of student journalists.

“In another hundred years or even ten years, you’ll be remembered as recorders of history at Northwestern State University. And I hope you remember yourselves as defenders of all of our rights as Americans.”

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Raycom Media.  They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2014 Lane Luckie