Warwick’s Modern Records Centre launches an exhibition dedicated to The Boar

More than five decades of student journalism are being celebrated in a new exhibition at The Modern Records Centre (MRC), showcasing the development of The Boar since its launch in 1973 to the present day.

In the exhibition centre of the MRC, located behind the University of Warwick’s library, the walls are chronologically covered in key articles that have been published in the last 53 years, including interviews with Eddie Izzard, Jon Snow, and Bience Gawanas during her time as a student, before she became Warwick’s Chancellor. Features about Germaine Greer joining the English and Comparative Literature Department and the creation of the iconic piazza are also on display.

The exhibition charts not only The Boar’s history, but also the wider history of the University of Warwick: the four glass cabinets around the room present standout covers and stories over the years. A cover from 1977 celebrates the closure of Warwick’s account with Barclays Bank due to its association with apartheid South Africa, and one published 22 years later showcases a legal issue that The Boar once faced as the student paper was forced to publish a correction after a writer wrote a critique of a local Leamington Spa estate agent.

The exhibition is available to visit until 23 October 2026 in the Modern Records Centre. You can also view all of the digitised copies of The Boar, as well as its predecessors Campus and Giblet, on the MRC’s website.

When The Boar spoke to the MRC’s Lizzy and Jamie, they explained that each article that can be seen on the wall was handpicked by the archive’s employees to illustrate some of the major events on campus, including student protests, and how the student paper reacted to major national and global events, such as the Miners’ Strike, the introduction of the Poll Tax, and the launch of the iPhone, which one writer was convinced would fail.

The articles reveal that student activism has been a feature of campus life since the University opened its doors, and, as one piece demonstrates, Warwick’s bus system is not a new topic for students to have opinions about.

The MRC employees discussed the importance of student journalism in charting the history of the university and the issues which affected students the most, making the decision to showcase The Boar in their latest exhibition straightforward. The process of selecting the articles began in January by searching through the digitised versions of The Boar on the MRC’s website.

As well as copies of articles on the walls, the exhibition includes physical editions of the student newspaper, most notably the first ever edition of The Boar, as well as the 25th and 50th anniversary editions.

The exhibition is available to visit until 23 October 2026 in the Modern Records Centre. You can also view all of the digitised copies of The Boar, as well as its predecessors Campus and Giblet, on the MRC’s website. Throughout Welcome Week, the MRC will be running tours for any students interested in visiting the archive.