Since 1911, the Sundial Humor Magazine is one of Ohio State’s oldest student organizations and one of the country’s oldest satire publications. Named after the namesake Class of 1905 Sundial on the north side of Thompson Library, the Sundial was founded in the style of other college humor magazines at the time, such as the Harvard Lampoon or the Yale Record.

The magazine reached a peak in the early 1960s, when then new student, R.L. Stine, joined the staff and soon after, took over as editor – later leading to it’s selection as a top five college humor magazine by editors across the nation.

Over the years, the magazine has gone through several hiatuses, some of which were due to lack of interest and others due to the Ohio State administration declaring the publication too obscene. In 2011, student Nathan Varrone, backed by assistance from R.L. Stine, restarted the Sundial, where it continues today.

Read more about our history on Wikipedia…

The Sundial Humor Magazine is a proud member of the Ohio State Comedy Network, joining other student organizations such as 8th Floor Improv, Backburner Sketch Comedy, Fishbowl Improv, and Buckeye Stand Up. The organization is also a member of the College Satire Guild, a group of several college satire publications dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and recognition of satire publications across the nation.

How to Submit

Are you an OSU student who wants to write for us? Cool! Here’s how you do it:

  • Submit something you’ve written to thesundialmagazine@gmail.com with the subject line “[1] – Title Of Your Piece”.
  • One of our editors will respond in a few days with some comments and suggestions. These edits are always optional, but are usually helpful.
  • Send another email back with whatever changes you made with the subject line “[2] – Title Of Your Piece”.
  • You should see your piece on the site shortly!

Sometimes, we’ll run special events where pieces can be submitted directly, without receiving edits. To confirm that you want your piece to go straight to the site, it’s helpful to send it with the subject line “[Event Name] – Title Of Your Piece” so we know you don’t want edits.