Friday night MiNT magazine celebrated the release of its first ever FreshMiNT, an issue composed entirely of writing submitted by the Class of 2012.
In conjunction with Late Knight, MiNT members promoted their new magazine and handed out minty treats. Editor-in-Chief Will Sankey, a senior, said that the event was designed to, "Draw interest and get people excited about writing what they want to write about."
According to Sankey, the concept for an all-freshmen magazine coincided with the organization's push toward reinventing itself. Sankey said that the magazine is looking to be more diverse and less pigeonholed as a "literary magazine."
"MiNT Magazine is all about diversity. We don't delegate what people write," said Senior Editor Pat Morgan.
During the evening, prizes were given to select freshman in four categories. First place winners Eric Laux, fiction, Shea Frazier, poetry, David Meyers, non-fiction, and Lauren Hanson, photography, were awarded the opportunity for their work to be published, as well as $20 gift certificates to either Mama Mia's or Pizza Paul's.
"We're trying to become more varied and more broad-based," Sankey said. He also emphasized that the club welcomes submissions from students of any major.
Laux, for example, is a geological sciences major, but said he has been writing for a long time and hopes to continue to do so. His fiction, "Death of Caesar" and "Man On the Street," was featured in FreshMiNT.
Sankey said that in addition to promoting diversity, FreshMiNT, which may become an annual edition of the magazine, will serve as a conduit for incoming students to "get involved … in editing and compiling a magazine."
Hanson, an English major and amateur photographer whose work was selected by the club, said that through the magazine she has been "meeting a lot of really cool people," and although she hasn't submitted any writing yet, she said she hopes to in the future.
Sankey emphasized that new participants are essential for the magazine's metamorphosis. "We want to become the image of the typical Geneseo voice," he said.
MiNT will continue to refresh itself this semester in a variety of ways. The magazines will be available in racks in the Union and library and, for the first time, the group will compile four issues instead of the usual three.
In the coming months, students should look for ThinMiNT, the group's traditional "free write," as well as GovernMiNT, a politically charged issue geared toward the November elections, and MiNTernational, which will keep in line with the club's goal of diversity.
In addition, on Oct. 16 from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Union Ballroom, MiNT will host a "Living and Dead Poetry Slam," during which amateurs and professionals alike will perform original poetry as well as that of deceased poets.