This past week, a handful of Washington and Lee students launched The Radish, a website that provides a satirical look at the W&L community.

The Radish is the brainchild of Ford Carson, ’18, and was inspired by The Onion, a popular online publication featuring satire world, national and community news.

Carson, editor-in-chief of the publication, launched the project with Andrew Coats, ’18, Bryan Jun, ’19, Conor Habiger, ’19, and Emerson Scheinuk, ’17.

Carson said the website’s aim is to poke fun at campus life and worldwide happenings in a way that students find relatable.

“I’m a junior, so really this is all just a product of what makes you roll your Ford Carson, ‘18, founder. eyes on campus,” he said. “I have never Photo courtesy of Ford Carson. hesitated to make fun of myself, and that’s what’s fun about this.”

Carson added that the article ideas are not necessarily based on real-life scenarios and that the real names of students and campus organizations are never mentioned in articles.

Scheinuk, who is the graphic designer for The Radish, said he most enjoys sharing humor with the W&L community.

“Right now this is just kind of a product of me loving to laugh and loving to make other people laugh,” Scheinuk said. “I’ve got some funny friends, and after some brainstorming, we figured we could do it ourselves.”

Some of the website’s articles include “Co-op adds healthier “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Loaded Fries” item to regular menu”; “Area Freshman has a lot of homework; “EC representative disillusioned with lack of name recognition at band party, and “Cause for concern: Washington and Lee drops to 621st on Forbes’ list of alphabetized colleges.”

Overall, students have been receptive to The Radish’s launch.

“The articles are really funny,” Elizabeth Thompson, ’20, said. “I’m glad W&L now has its own spunky version of The Onion.”

Since its creation, the site has gotten around 2,000 visitors and gained over 350 followers on Facebook. The staff size has grown to nearly 20.

“I had no clue what to expect when I first started this, but this has certainly beaten my highest expectation,” Carson said.

Carson said his long-term goals for The Radish include self-sufficiency in funding and a lasting legacy at W&L.

“The goal from the beginning has been to make people laugh,” he said. “It’s a pretty simple one, that’s why we don’t need much outside funding or a fancy website or anything. At the end of the day, the funniest part is the writing.”

Students interested in joining The Radish should send an email with their name, class year and five sample headlines to [email protected].