by Adam West
As we come to the end of the school year, we are also coming to the end of Jenna Nicodemus’ term as Editor-in-Chief of The Cento. Jenna has been an essential member of Centre’s student newspaper for four years, and was pivotal in revitalizing it for the past two years before becoming the head editor this past fall. The Cento would not be the publication it is today without her, and we owe her an immense debt of gratitude for our current success. To commemorate Jenna’s service to the newspaper and the broader campus community, we sat down for an interview with our outgoing leader on the eve of her graduation.
Can you briefly introduce yourself to readers who don’t know you?
I’m Jenna Nicodemus. I’m an English and Computer Science double major, and I’m a Creative Writing minor as well. I use she/her pronouns. And I’m a senior—I’m going to graduate soon.
How did you originally get into journalism?
Journalism was kind of a happy accident for me … I decided to give The Cento a shot when I was a freshman because I’ve always enjoyed writing. Normally, I like to do more fiction writing as a Creative Writing minor. But The Cento was something that was active when I was a freshman. It wasn’t as active as it was now; it was still recovering from the COVID slump that it had been hit with. But there were opportunities to creatively contribute to The Cento when I was a freshman, so I gave it a shot. I worked with Elke Coenders on a crossword that was published online that year. And that was my only contribution that year, but that was enough to put me in Elke’s mind to be managing editor for the following year.
So I guess that’s kind of what I mean by “accident.” Like, I kind of became accidentally important, if that makes sense. I saw that The Cento was a great group that had a lot of potential, especially as a school newspaper, that needed to be helped off the ground again.
In the process, I’ve definitely developed an appreciation for journalism, especially student journalism, and what it does for college campuses. It acts as a watchdog for admin and all the stuff that happens at Centre, and it keeps students in the loop.
What originally brought you to Centre College?
That’s a great question. When I was a prospective student—when I was still a senior in high school—I remember I came on a tour to Centre sometime in the spring of that year. And I really liked the campus. … I think Centre’s green space is incredible.
I also sat in on a class here when I was a prospective student, too. At the time, I had no idea what I wanted to do: I actually sat in on a Psychology lecture because I thought I might do Psychology (which is an interest of mine, but not for a career). I really liked the vibes here; everyone was very pleasant.
Originally, it was not in my family’s budget for us to come here, but Centre eventually said they really wanted me, so they gave me an extra grant to attend, and that actually bridged the financial gap and made it possible for me to attend. And since I wasn’t very thrilled about my other options–I was also looking at WKU, which I wasn’t always sold on–I was happy to come here instead, and have it be possible!
What surprised you most about Centre?
Well, I came from a bit of a stuffy high school, I guess. So honestly, coming to experience college life was really interesting for me, because I never really experienced professors being so free and open, for example. Also, I think campus life was a lot more close-knit and cozy and easier to integrate into than I expected. I think Centre’s on-campus policy, while it has its ups and downs … I do really like the way it makes a community. It’s almost a little town where all your friends are in the same spot and you can just get up and see whoever you want, whenever. That’s something I’ve never really experienced before, either. I mean, I come from Louisville, which is not known for its walkability or close quarters, right? So being able to be in a place where everything was just so close together was also really nice.
What are some valuable lessons you’ve learned from your time on The Cento?
I definitely think I’ve learned a lot about leadership with The Cento—managing others, an organization, what that means. I’ve realized the importance of communication and meeting frequently for keeping an organization alive. I think our biweekly meetings, and just staying in touch as much as we do with The Cento and our writers, has been really important in keeping us alive. Because when I was a freshman, with the Cento of that time, communication was mostly through email, if you can believe it. It was just a little too slow with too many contributors and too few submissions overall. The communication needed to become more instant and more frequent. Like, meeting more than just once every few months.
It’s also important to have that foundational organization where everyone can access all the information that they need to know about The Cento—like our tracking document, for example, those inside The Cento will know what I’m talking about. We have a lot of structure inside the organization that ensures that people can easily step in and see what we’re doing and so that writers can also know what’s going on.
Another lesson that I think is really important is that when you say you’re going to do something, … If you prove you’re capable and you can do it, people will listen to you and they’ll want to contribute. Putting your money where your mouth is.
What surprised you most about The Cento?
I guess just how successful it’s been! I mean, as a comeback, you know. Ever since I’ve been a sophomore, I’ve just kind of seen it grow and grow. And the reception we’ve gotten about it being in print again has just been absolutely outstanding. I think the student engagement has been excellent. We have regular readers; we have people that collect every issue. I know fellow seniors of mine who have every single issue. … We also have support both in faculty and students. Like, we’ve had, for example, Nathan Whitlock really show up for us. And we have plenty of professors that want us to succeed as well, like Dr. White, Dr. Kinkade, Dr. Schalkoff, and so on. So just having that support has been really nice—having people seeing us not just as a club, but as an actual organization contributing to the welfare of campus.
And also the weight that The Cento holds. What we put out has weight, which is not something you could always say about a student newspaper, but it feels like everyone, including students and professors and administrators, really take The Cento seriously. Even though The Cento can be really laid back and silly–I mean, we have a whole April Fool’s issue–what we report on is still important to the people here.
What has it been like balancing both the rigorous school work of Centre College and being the Editor-in-Chief of The Cento?
It’s definitely been challenging. And this is a bit of a self-imposed challenge, I will admit, because I have two majors and a minor, which I’m still completing credits for. So it’s very intense, you know, like, I’m writing a lot. I write a lot for my English classes and also Creative Writing. And then I’m also programming a lot. And I’m managing The Cento and I have two jobs. Yay! So it’s been very intense. … The editor wears a lot of hats, you know, just making sure the issue comes together in time and that it follows the schedule.
But it’s been a lot of fun. I do not regret it. I would not take it back for the world. Being a part of The Cento, especially as Editor-in-Chief, means you have to keep your thumb on the pulse of the college. It’s an important job, and it’s gratifying.
How would you say Centre College has changed as a whole? How has The Cento brought about some of those changes?
The Cento definitely had a bit of a quarrel with Residence Life when I was a sophomore, and that continued a little bit into junior year as well. But I think that the housing system has seen a lot of improvements since when I was a freshman. I know current freshmen have a lot of their qualms too, but trust me when I say it was a lot worse: you had to come in-person and participate in a lottery at a table. There would always be this giant line where you had time slots to show up for. Like, it was archaic. It was not great. So I think the system that we have now is a major improvement, even if there are still problems. Part of the change that occurred there, I think, is because of the reporting that The Cento did that year.
And we’ve also started some conversations about issues on campus throughout the years, such as disability advocacy. We did a lot of that when I was a sophomore and a junior. This year, we’ve talked a lot about the hate speech on campus, and we’ve reported on the crazy events that have happened as well, keeping students in the loop there.
Plus, Cowan has massively improved. I don’t want to take the full credit for that, but I do think The Cento also played a part in that, too. Because we did report on how awful Cowan was when I was a freshman and a sophomore. Like it was really, really bad. People complain now, and they will always complain, but when I say it was low-key inedible, it kind of was. The options were not nearly as good as they are now. And the 365 Market is also a huge improvement. Before that, there were no grocery options on campus … It was restricted to what you could get at Sandy’s, because also, Flame Café was not a thing. You only had Einstein’s and Sandy’s. So food options have definitely improved while I’ve been here as well. And I do think the Parkhurst team is very attentive to The Cento’s reviews. So that’s something I can say I feel like we have a little bit of sway in.
What are some of your favorite articles that you’ve written for The Cento?
So, I actually don’t put my name by everything I’ve written for The Cento. I would say probably over 50% of the things I’ve written for The Cento, I don’t put my name next to just because I don’t want to. I get embarrassed. But I started the Trivia Trove column. That whole column started with me being, like, delirious at 3 a.m. putting the layout together. And I was just like, “I need something to fill space. Here’s this crazy guy giving trivia facts.” So I’ve written a few of those columns, which I find personally entertaining. I also think my magnum opus as a Cento contributor is the April Fools column of the “The Worst of YikYak.” Those are my jokes. All the layout gags in the Cento April Fools are mine too. I’ve also done the crossword for most of the years—two out of the three years, as a sophomore and a junior. And I think those have massively improved since I started. If you trace the issues starting my sophomore year to the end of junior year, you can see a steady improvement. I feel like now I have a good grasp of what constitutes a good crossword now.
Other than that, in terms of like an actual article—I do like this article I just did last issue that’s about campus disengagement. I put, you know, a bit of effort and thought into that one because I do think that’s an actual problem on campus that needs to be solved.
What are some of your favorite articles that you’ve read in The Cento by other people?
Well, I think Logan Ward’s “A Freshman’s First Frat Party” comes to mind first. That article was our front headliner in the first issue of The Cento revival that happened my sophomore year. … I thought that was a great article. I think that frat party was Barbie-themed, and we got a picture of the bright pink banner and put it on there. It got people to pick up the issue.
Other than that, I’ll definitely give a shoutout to Connor Parks’ car reviews column. He has been consistent with that, like every single issue, and I do think it’s a staple. He really knows his cars. If I ever have a car problem, I’m going to ask him.
I also honestly think our April Fools issues are so charming and fun. For example, this year, there was the article about the English department having a war… which apparently Dr. Emmitt and Dr. Kincade read and like, convened to discuss it? Which I think that’s fantastic, and I can die happy as Editor knowing that happened.
Gosh, we’ve just written so much, you know? I have seen so many articles in these past three years that have been amazing. It’s hard to just pick them off the top of my head. We just have so many that are awesome. McKenzie’s satires are always amazing. I always think Hallie always puts together a thoughtful opinion piece. Aelwen always does a great job of doing “Ask Abe” and putting together things that are in a very professional, succinct style that I appreciate. I’m just surrounded by great writers, very creative people.
What are some things that people don’t realize about The Cento?
Probably that so much work goes into it. This year as Editor, in my little “Letter from the Editor” column of every issue, I’ve tried to put a little bit of behind the scenes info, but that’s hard to do in such a small space and also without it overrunning the entire column. But a lot happens with The Cento. I mean, we run by a rigorous three-week schedule: one week we have rough drafts, next week we have final drafts and then layout starts, and then the next week layout finishes and we send for the print. And we have to also update our website and social media. So that’s a lot of stuff happening, and we have a lot of students and teams that work together to make that happen. If you look on The Cento Team page on page two, that’s a list of all the people that contribute.
Also, students should realize how important it is to keep engaging with The Cento and keep it alive. Because inevitably, I mean, with the way that clubs work on this campus, teams change over every year, so it’s important that we have student contributors every year being voices on campus. So yeah—support The Cento by dropping in at our meetings, picking up copies, and talking about it with your friends.
What are your plans after graduation?
Oh, the million dollar question!
Right now, I’m planning to take a gap year or two before I get my MFA in Creative Writing, because I really want to be a published author someday. I want to pursue fiction writing. That’s definitely my passion. So my thought is that I’ll take a few years just working … I’m just going to take it pretty low-key and save up some money. So yeah, exciting times.
Do you have anything else you would like to say to the student body?
If you’ve ever thought about writing for The Cento—even if it’s not a news article, if it’s something you have an opinion about, if it’s a certain album or TV show that you have strong opinions about and want to review, if you have problems with campus that you want to make heard—I would strongly encourage you to contribute to The Cento. Because like I said, keeping this newspaper alive is very important for keeping the powers that be accountable on campus, and also making the campus feel more interconnected and engaged. … The Cento is a great opportunity to write, to practice journalism, to make your needs known, and to get experience working with a team as well. Something you can put on your resume, too!