An underground newsletter that was started by Murray State faculty in 1978, resurfaced Monday with their first issue from volume six.
The newsletter, titled Sisyphus, is compiled by the members of a board of editors who have long known about the faculty newsletter of the same name published by Ken Wolf, now a professor emeritus of history. The newsletter addressed campus-wide issues of the day, always with good humor and keen insight.
“As with the original version, we believe there are many roles Sisyphus can play,” the board of editors wrote in an email. “It can be a vehicle for faculty to communicate with one another, so pertinent information and good ideas and divergent viewpoints can be widely aired. It can serve as a reminder to faculty (and students) of the academic and indeed humanistic purposes of university education. Perhaps it can be a catalyst to help faculty move ideas towards resolution; and, hopefully it can provide some comic relief.”
Rob Donnelly, professor of mathematics and statistics, is open about his connection with the newsletter. And most obviously, Sisyphus is likely to consider controversial campus issues, and we want our editors and other contributors to be able to speak freely so that their ideas, rather than their identities, can be the focal point.
The group is mainly printing the newsletter, rather than having an electronic-only copy. However, electronic copies are freely available for the asking, just contact sisyphus.msu@gmail.com.
Another issue is in the works, and the board said they hope readers across campus will look for it in the coming weeks.