The Spire

Daniel Maddigan ‘24

Distraught Editor

Recently, after long hours of study in the library, I noticed a shoddy-looking stack of printer paper resting on the magazine shelves near the entrances to the reading room. Such a glaringly low-effort product residing next to awarded publications such as The Spire, College Street Journal, and The Atlantic begged me to investigate. As I grew closer, my eyes finally rested upon the horrid site: “The Jester.” The three 8 and a half by eleven inch page leaflets left in the stack hardly constituted a magazine, despite the claims of its Arial Font.  As the editor of the most popular—and might I say most beloved—satirical publication on campus, I initially took great umbrage at the publication’s claim of initiating a “new era of satire at Holy Cross.” Admittedly, it felt like a shot across the bow at The Spire, and the Eggplant section specifically, for no apparent reason. Any student of any major can write for The Spire, and almost always all are published, so why had this publication ignored the culture of cultivated comedy thriving at the Eggplant? Indeed, why does this publication take such a passive aggressive tone towards a section that welcomes all perspectives and styles? Then, I took a breath and thought to myself: why had I reacted so strongly? If my peers took the time and the effort to form their own publication, surely there must be something they see lacking in the Eggplant. Perhaps, I thought, if I read this publication, I might actually learn valuable practices to share with the Eggplant Staff. However, after digesting this second offering from the ramshackle publication that calls itself The Jester, I realized that it only serves as yet another glaring symptom of the illness which plagues media creations of Gen-Z. 

Before I begin with my criticism, I want to emphasize that I understand that by reacting to a reactionary text like The Jester I fulfill part of the reactionary mission: the incessant drive for attention. Yet, I felt I had to mount a defense of my wonderful section and its diligently dedicated writers who strive every week to entertain or inspire the students with stories that involve much more than trite, unoriginal complaints about Holy Cross campus culture. The Jester’s claim as a new era insults this section’s staff and the immense amount of work they put in. That being said, my major complaints with The Jester focus on two major facets: 1) It’s blatant plagiarism of the Eggplant section and low effort-publishing as a result of not being an official RSO. 2) It lacks any meaningful originality within its content.

To begin with, the form and substance of The Jester indicates to me complete laziness and cowardice. Whether out of ignorance or purposeful spite, no one representing The Jester approached neither The Spire generally nor the Eggplant section specifically which suggestions for how to improve the section, so its implicit juxtaposition of The Spire as a strawman for The Jester’s “new era of satire” invents a boogeyman where none exists; it does so in an effort to create clout or hype around its own production. While perhaps admirably motivated, such marketing techniques fail to follow the ethical guidelines one might imagine students of a Jesuit institution might follow when creating media; rather The Jester waltzes into the spike-pit of social-media influence culture wherein creation of falsehood or misleading is justified by the personal gain of the creator. All that is in addition to the blatant plagiarism of The Jester in its form; it copies article formats and by-line jokes while imitating the casual style of the Eggplant section. If seeking to provide an alternative to what exists on campus, might it not be more productive to not directly copy the only other existing satire publication? They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this just feels wrong. These practices beg the question, how did students with multiple years of Jesuit education under their belt become men and women for and with themselves? 

Furthermore, The Jester’s laughable production value is not the result of some avant garde rebellion against the establishment. If such students really cared about this new publication, they would take the time to register The Jester as an RSO in order to receive student funding. The recent addition of several other student publications in recent years, most notably The College Street Journal, exemplify the low barrier to entry and great success students can have with producing new outlets for the student body. If they really cared about growing their publication, they would reveal their authors’ names and allow students to receive the recognition they deserve for their efforts. I would venture that the students behind The Jester have no such interests in anyone but themselves. Anonymously published articles indicate this work represents the personal gripes of few authors expressed through grievances constructed through hackneyed and cliched stereotypes about Holy Cross students. All of which leads me into my conclusion about The Jester: it’s simply not funny. Its malcontent seethes through the ink on its pages. It embodies a malignant narcissism festering within the rising generation of youth, one that prioritizes disruption over cooperation and personal ambition over collective action. 

What this world needs from its crop of rising college students is not a jaded generation content to eke out a personal, distorted reality disconnected from the crises of our world. WE should start to take responsibility for the world we stand to inherit. Satire is an immensely valuable tool to push people, systems, and institutions to improve through comedic observation and genuine insight. Satire should be funny, yes, but it should also mean something. While The Jester fails spectacularly on both those fronts, the Eggplant strives, albeit imperfectly, to accomplish these goals with a smirk and a wink. If you are interested in writing for the Eggplant or any section of The Spire, please email spire@g.holycross.edu. I eagerly await any new writers and submissions. 

Copy Edited by Sabine Hinkaty ’26