The Junto was a publication that was created by the Student Christian Association. It has many issues that can be found in the College History Alcove in Special Collections at Gettysburg. The writers were often focused on issues of social justice with a Christian leaning. The Junto was very progressive and the makers were not afraid to be controversial in their beliefs. They supported the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, the environmental movement, and the LGBT movement among other things. The issues include drawings, poems, essays, and letters.
The Junto is an important publication because of all the social justice issues that it took on.
The makers were Christian and thus they believed it was their duty to help those in the world who did not have equal status. They were large supporters of the New York City Field Trip which was an event that brought about a demand for greater diversity in the student body.
The progressive values that are showcased in the publication are ones that are very much tied to the movements that made up the postmodern era. The issues that the students took with authority are as well characteristic of the skepticism that so many exhibited during this time. Chaplain Vanorsdall was the man in charge of the Junto for many years and in the college history he was known as a very active progressive within the administration.
Junto Cartoons
This is a sarcastic and cheeky cartoon that demonstrates the culture of Gettysburg College during the postmodern era that was beginning to break down. Students were fighting against this culture by calling attention to it through cartoons such as this.
This cartoon from the Junto shows the growing popularity of existentialist thought during the postmodern period.
This cartoon shows a very negative view of the school in various aspects. The writers also admit that they are disliked by many at the school as well. This protest and mistrust in the perfection of their school is a product of the skepticism of the age.
Diversity in the Junto
This article discusses ideas of feminism and the problems with the idea of feminine deficiency. While there are ideas here that would make many feminists of today cringe, the fact that conversations like this were happening at all represents the growing diversity in the postmodern era.
This letter was written by a former student of Gettysburg College who was writing from University of Maryland on the topic of the acceptance of homosexual individuals. It attempts to describe for the Gettysburg community that there are many homosexuals among them and that they are just as diverse as any group of heterosexuals. Topics surrounding anything having to do with understanding homosexual people was rare until much later, but the fact that the Junto featured this article in 1970 shows that they were very dedicated to social justice.
This part of the Junto talks about the importance of creativity in student work. It specifically cites the need for students to express themselves. This need to express the self adheres to the themes of the postmodern era. Students no longer were willing to adhere to cohesive ways of presenting their academic work and rather wanted celebrate individual thought.
This page is a fabricated Q&A in order to bring to light the possibility that the war in Vietnam might have devastating consequences for the Vietnamese culture and people. It is contrary in nature because it directly opposes the war by making readers come face to face with the possibility that their war was killing off an entire culture and all their traditions.
This page outlines items that are not biodegradable and that the participants in Campus Clean-In picked up. This was at the start of the environmental movement. Passion for fixing the ills of society came about because of a growing skepticism that allowed people to see the faults in their communities.
This page demonstrates the idea that people of color had to liberate their minds from the many years of having many less opportunities than white citizens. Once again, the Junto exhibits the search for diversification and a refusal to stand by former prejudiced beliefs.
Nietzsche was famously the philosopher to claim that “God is dead.” As a Christian publication, the Junto wrote a response to this claim. This article shows that this quote was important and widespread enough in popular culture that the Junto felt the need to fight the sentiment.
Feelings of loneliness and an inability to connect were common in the postmodern era. Because the self became so important, people second guessed others authenticity often and it left individuals feeling alone with only themselves in a sea of people.
The New York field trip of 1969 was supported by the Christian Association and Chaplain Vanorsdall. This field trip led to an increased call for diversity among the students by those individuals who took part in the trip.
All editions of The Junto may be found at Special Collections on the fourth floor of Musselman Library at Gettysburg College. They are bound in a book in the College History Alcove in the Reading Room.
The Junto was a publication that was created by the Student Christian Association. It has many issues that can be found in the College History Alcove in Special Collections at Gettysburg. The writers were often focused on issues of social justice with a Christian leaning. The Junto was very progressive and the makers were not afraid to be controversial in their beliefs. They supported the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, the environmental movement, and the LGBT movement among other things. The issues include drawings, poems, essays, and letters.
