Greek community newspaper restarts

The University’s Greek-affiliated newspaper, The Odyssey, is continuing its journey with new leadership.

The Odyssey, a free weekly newspaper published by fraternity and sorority members, has experienced problems in the past attracting staff members, and it was forced to stop production during last semester.

But it restarted this fall with a new president — senior Kacey Barnes.

“When I accepted the job as president, The Odyssey was struggling,” Barnes said in an email. “I saw this challenge as an unbelievable opportunity to turn a struggling business into something great.”

She has revamped the paper and is now working on expanding its presence on campus.

Barnes said the paper started the year with around 10 employees. Three weeks later, the staff has tripled, and new applications are being accepted every day.

“Our goal is to connect the Greek community with each other, with local businesses and with the rest of the Carrboro/Chapel Hill community,” she said in the email.

Senior Matthew Oakes, The Odyssey’s sports editor, said he believes the organization will be able to avoid problems it faced last year.

“We’ve been really proactive getting sponsorship, getting advertising, and getting it all together before school really sets in,” he said.

The organization hopes to expand to include one member from each of the 55 Greek chapters.

Junior Emily Whitson, who is also on the copy desk at The Daily Tar Heel, said she’s written several articles for The Odyssey since being hired earlier this semester.

“There are so many great events in the Greek community that the Chapel Hill community doesn’t know about that I feel they should,” Whitson said.

Barnes said the paper’s leadership has changed the internal organization of the paper — and the content it produces — in an effort to improve its quality.

“We will feature different chapters throughout the year, showcasing philanthropy, service projects, social events and other newsworthy topics in hopes to expand our reach,” she said.

But not all members were happy with the changes.

Junior Trevor Newman, a former writer for The Odyssey, severed ties with the paper at the start of this year.

Newman said he disagreed with the new method of article assignment, which limited his choice of writing topics.

“I see (The Odyssey) more as a think tank,” Newman said.

But Barnes said she is confident that the paper is moving in a positive direction.

“I’m excited to see how The Odyssey evolves as we continue to staff our team and find our niche as a specialized weekly publication.”

Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.