Communication and Media Relations
Pat Anfinson, Communications Coordinator • 507-786-3032 • panfin@stolaf.edu

A message about hometown press releases
You have likely seen many hometown press releases in your local newspaper. They generally take the form of a brief announcement such as: “Jane Doe, a junior at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., received an Associated Writing Program Award for poetry,” and more often than not, these announcements are part of a longer list. These announcements are culled from information we send them about you (dean’s list, special awards, study abroad, music tours and more) at St. Olaf. We generally send a two-paragraph announcement but most papers distill this to a line or two. A typical hometown press release is printed on the back of this document to give you a sense of what we send so you can compare that to what you see printed in your local paper.

You can help us tell your friends and neighbors about your achievements here on the Hill by updating your personal information online in the Student Information System (SIS). This is the only way we will know what newspapers are important to you.

Follow these steps to access the SIS. You can do this from home right now.

  • Use your St. Olaf login name and password.
  • Select the “personal” link on the left side.
  • Select “local newspapers” from the upper right corner pull-down menu.
  • Choose your state from the drop down menu. This will bring up all newspapers that are currently in our database from your state.
  • Select a newspaper, then select “add.”
  • Select a second newspaper if you wish.
  • Please keep in mind that major newspapers such as the Minneapolis StarTribune or the Washington Post do not print announcements of this type so it is best to keep your selections to the neighborhood newspapers.
  • You can change this information anytime.

If your local newspaper is not listed, please contact newspaperquery@stolaf.edu and let us know. We  will need the exact name of the paper, the city and state of the paper, and your first and last name.

If you have questions, contact Pat Anfinson at panfin@stolaf.edu or 507-786-3032.