After nearly a semester of work, the second issue of the Squirrel Digest went to print on Tuesday morning. The magazine was originally created by Charlie Aldrich ‘25, who published the first issue in the spring semester of 2025. Three hundred copies of this fall’s issue are set to be printed within the next one to two weeks, and distributed on campus and throughout the broader Goshen community.

Griffin Eash, a junior graphic design major, and Mackenzie Miller, a junior communications major, are the co-editors-in-chief of the magazine. They are working with The Papers Inc., a northern Indiana media company, to print this issue.    

This fall issue of Squirrel Digest is 44 pages long, filled with articles, stories, photos and illustrations produced by students — and in some cases faculty — of Goshen College.

In many ways, Eash and Miller are continuing in the style of the first issue. Pages such as “Moments” will make another appearance. Additionally, Miller said, “We wanted to do a fit check, like in the previous issue, but we wanted to do our own take on it.”

Ella Armstrong, this issue’s photo editor, said, “The incorporation of art was very similar, which I love. I was kind of looking through both copies and there’s just so much art to look at throughout the whole thing, and it’s just very visually appealing.”

One of the major differences in this issue was the ability to have designated paid staff. Where much of the work for the first issue was done by Aldrich alone, Armstrong said, “They had time to kind of plan everything out to get as many people to contribute as possible, which made it seem like it fit together a lot easier and quicker.”

Nonetheless, there was a great deal of work to do. All 44 pages were laid out by Eash, Miller and Sophia Yoder, a junior film production major and Squirrel Digest’s layout staff, in the span of around 12 days.

Yoder said, “I was super excited when Mackenzie approached me in the beginning of the semester and asked if I would help with the layout design.” She added that the software was challenging at first and she was glad for the co-editors’ work in training her.

The magazine also now includes a link to a playlist used for inspiration, as well as advertisements for several local businesses. Both were ideas that Aldrich had for the first issue, but was prevented from doing by various constraints at the time. On the local business ads, Miller said, “Building these relationships is an effort to make this more sustainable for our future.”

Eash added, “One of our main goals for this semester at the Squirrel Digest was to establish ourselves as a sign of the times.” As of now, it is unclear what future semesters of Squirrel Digest will look like. The co-editors both hope for it to continue.

Eash said, “It was Charlie’s baby, but we’ve kind of adopted it and it’s ours now.” Speaking to the feeling of seeing the magazine completed, he said, “I got a little teary-eyed. It was so satisfying.”

Miller said, “I hope it gives to the community as much as it’s given to us.”