As the proud wannabe valedictorians that we are, we’d like to start these final words with a definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which defines “sundial” as “an instrument to show the time of day by the shadow of a gnomon on a usually horizontal plate or on a cylindrical surface.”
What’s the time, we hear you ask? In this case, it’s fifteen years. Although a “cylindrical surface” is shaped by a circle, which by definition has no beginning and no end, we are proud to pinpoint 2011 as the big bang moment of this, your student media outlet. Fifteen years of continuous, bilingual coverage of foreign affairs, culture, travel, campus life, opinion pieces, and creative writing. While the Sundial is obviously made possible by its writers and editors, our work would be much less enjoyable or productive if it wasn’t for all the stories that you, dear readers, have decided to create along this period. And let us tell you: it’s been a lot of stories.
A circle is also defined by having the least perimeter for the most area, which is a useful analogy in order to describe the work of the Sundial Press. Whether it be asso events, sports tournaments, appointments, dismissals, welcome ceremonies or goodbye ceremonies, we have always been there for you, putting Sciences Po’s motto – Comprendre son temps pour agir sur le monde (understand the moment in order to act upon the world) – to good use. From SoundSystem to SAGA, ALAS to Amnesty, ELSA to Expose, we want to send un grand merci for all those hours of planning and executing, no matter if you were organising, enjoying, or perhaps dreaming about the moment – joining the Sundial is often among the reasons highlighted by candidates in their Sciences Po application files in order to explain why they want to come to Reims.
In fact, the city of Reims hides within its streets several more sundials, including the one on the Cour des Pères, which dates back to the seventeenth century and was restored in 1981. Once settled in their new city, it is also our writers’ individual student life experiences that push (or “press”) them to send in some of their works to the Opinion or Creative Writing sections. With every article that our superb Comms team publishes, a tiny bit of history is written in the already long history of Sciences Po. And if you do not believe us, we encourage you to take a look at our website, starting with the last page of every section, and slowly work your way through time in order to find out why ecology can be sexy, that time when campaign week was discontinued, Nostalgie teintée, and some reasons to have hope.
And even though our campus is just 15, going on 16 years old, the site it now occupies is rooted in centuries of traditions, stories, and projects that continue to happen as we write this and which will undoubtedly shape the future of each of the 1,400 students that cross those big red doors every single day. 1,400 minds and souls who, perhaps as a result of the boredom-curiosity-FOMO triangle, come to this campus ready to make the memories that we later document. Throughout all these years, you have been the gnomon that set our sundial’s time, and the ink that powered our press, leaving your footprints in many different corners of the Internet just as our good old typewriters would leave their mark on pieces of newspaper back in the day. The content and format of the Sundial reveal a new form of journalism that reflects the evolution of technology and student life across two different decades, constantly attempting to bring some clarity and help you understand the mess that we sometimes refer to as “the 21st century.”
We started this piece as valedictorians, but we would like to finish as newscasters. Like any good newscaster will tell you: “you can find continuing coverage of our main stories by going to sundialpress.co.” On behalf of all the team here at the Sundial Press, and with the expectation that this campus will produce just as many journalists as it does with French Prime Ministers, we wish you a very good night.
This article was first published as part of the Sundial Press printed edition in Spring 2026
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