Despite the lack of early support, Brian Lewis, English professor at Foothill College and the students at Foothill’s Journalism Club now have the opportunity to produce the first printed issue of their online newspaper, The Script.

The newspaper was available the first day of classes on Monday, Sept. 25.

Lewis has been fighting to bring a newspaper back to Foothill for years, but got very little traction at first.

“Early on,” he said, “When I was trying to bring this back even as far as 2012, I’d say, ‘Hey, we want a newspaper on campus,’ and administrators would look at me and say, ‘Newspaper? Who reads the newspaper?’”

“The lead story [of the newspaper] is going to be about the resurgence of the newspaper and journalism program on campus,” said The Script Advisor Judy Walgren. “We also have some interesting Op-eds by students affiliated with various political parties. We’re really trying to just give a voice to as many people and as many things as possible this first issue.”

Foothill College has been lacking a physical paper on campus since 2007, Lewis told La Voz.

“It wasn’t until 2010 that I started making a little noise… I’d been working on it lightly, but I was just getting no traction until suddenly a group of students, probably thanks to Trump and his win, really got interested in news and what it meant for them.”

At a fake news seminar in the fall of 2016, Lewis was finally able to form the Journalism Club.

Soon after, he was able to secure some funding from the Associated Students of Foothill College to pay for The Script’s website, where students began to write and submit articles.

Professor Lewis stressed the importance of the support of College President Thuy Nguyen, who now writes a column for The Script.

“The new administration saw the value that the paper added, whereas the old administration I don’t think necessarily saw the value that the paper added,” said Lewis.

“I want us to be the centralized place that both students and faculty can go to receive news about what’s happening on campus, around campus, and get involved within their community, because I think community is something that we really lack at Foothill,” said Liza Turchinsky, The Script’s editor-in-chief.

“I want a lively campus with lively intellectual debate and discussion, and I don’t know if it’s that easily done without a paper,” said Lewis.

For now, Foothill still does not have an official journalism program or journalism classes, and The Script is produced through the club.

“The summer of 2018, this next summer, is when we should have a fully equipped curriculum,” Lewis said.