History - The Gold Star Journal

July 1996, Dr. Suzanne T. Mabrouk founded The Gold Star Journal. The journal provides Citadel students the opportunity to publish well written research papers, which were required for a class.

From 1997-2008, The Gold Star Journal was published on campus by the staff of The Citadel Print Shop.
Since 2009, the journal has been printed off campus.
To celebrate the 10^th edition (2006), The GSJ was printed completely in color.
2013-2018, The Gold Star Journal had been printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper. FSC is devoted to responsibly and properly managing our forests so that they will continue to exist in the future.
In 2015, Colonel and Mrs. Abraham Goldfarb, made it possible to print the journal in color for the 2^nd time.
Since the 20^th edition (2016), The GSJ has continued to be printed completely in color.

The 1997 edition is the only one to have a hand-drawn cover.
The covers of the 1998-2004 editions featured a photograph taken by campus photographer Russ Pace.
From 2005-2011, the cover featured the stars and bars, the name of the journal, the year, and the Citadel seal. With the 2005 edition, the four-color photograph moved to the inside cover.

Since 2012, The GSJ seal has taken center stage on the cover of each edition, usually flanked by the stars and bars at the top and bottom.
With revisions to the GSJ seal in fall 2014 and fall 2021, the cover changed accordingly.
The cover of the 2022 edition featured a newly revised GSJ seal without any stars and bars. The book bind featured two stars, one of either side of the year.

2022-present

The 2008 editors Leon Hontz, Trey Williams, and Thomas Sullivan; Mr. Kevin Metzger (previously of Multimedia); and Dr. Suzanne Mabrouk designed the original GSJ seal. It included one star for each year that the journal existed prior to its design. This seal includes the Latin words Honoris Causa, which means “for the sake of the honor.” Since 2008, the seal has been included in each edition. 2012, the GSJ seal replaced The Citadel seal on the cover.
The 2015 editors Jane Ma, L. Miguel Parrado, Jennifer Burch, Ryan Leach, and Lauren Seedor; Mr. John Whitten (Multimedia); and Dr. Suzanne Mabrouk changed the GSJ seal by removing the feather pen and flipping the crescent. The new seal appeared on the 2015 cover.
The 2022 editors Elissa Reckdenwald, Ken Galsgaard, John Morris, Jesse Quimby, Trey Suzanne Mabrouk redesigned the GSJ seal. The stars and year in which the seal was originally designed swapped positions. The palmetto tree became more defined. The name of the journal and the school were printed in gold. The new seal took center stage as the only thing printed on the 2022 cover. The year and stars on either side were gold-foil embossed for the first time on the book bind.

To celebrate the 20^th edition, The Gold Star Journal, The Friends of The Daniel Library, and The Krause Center for Leadership and Ethics co-hosted an Inaugural Lecture. The event was entitled “Scholarship at Its Best: An Evening with the Authors and Editors of The Gold Star Journal.” The authors spoke about their featured papers. Editor-in-Chief Miguel Parrado spoke about his multi-year experience with the publication. Emeritus Editor-in-Chief Lance Braye, class of 2013, spoke about the influence of the publication on his medical career. The lecture became an annual event.
Due to COVID, the 2020 lecture did not occur.
The Gold Star Journal Lecture was renamed to the Gold Star Journal Academic Conference (GSJAC) for 2021.

In 2011, the Best Overall Paper Submission Award was first given.
In 2012, the Best Photograph Award was first given.
In 2014, the Best Undergraduate Paper Submission Award was given.
In 2017, the Best Oral Presentation Award was first given.
In 2019, the first photo story was published and honored with the GSJ Distinction in Photography Award.
Also in 2019, the Best Graduate Paper Submission Award was first given.
Fall 2019, Dr. and Mrs. James F. Boyd, Class of 1971, established The Gold Star Journal Excellence Award. This award provides funds towards the Student Awards.
Fall 2020, the editors renamed The Best Overall Submission Award to The Boyd Family Distinction Award in honor of Dr. and Mrs. James F. Boyd, Class of 1971.

1996-1997 was the only year in which all editors were sophomores.
The founding editors, Bradley Moorer, Joshua Jenkins, and Christopher McFarland, served two sequential years, 1996-1998, as editors of the journal.
Since 2007, most editors have served multiple years.
The following students served as editors for three academic years: Leon Hontz (2006-2009), Trey Williams (2007-2010), Thomas Sullivan (2007-2010), Taylor Gilliam (2008-2011), Mark Shaw (2009-2012), Lance Braye (2010-2013), Ryan Boodee (2011-2014), Jane Ma (2012-2015), Lauren Seedor (2014-2017), John Clark (2015-2018), Hunter Crawley (2016-2019), and Carleton Bailiff III (2018-2021).
The following students served as editors for two academic years: Bradley Moorer (1996-1998), Joshua Jenkins (1996-1998), Christopher McFarland (1996-1998), Joseph Rohe (2001-2003), John Bergmans (2004-2006), Matthew Harakas (2004-2006), Timothy Devine (2004-2006), James Russell (2005-2007), Jennifer Burch (2014-2016), Ryan Leach (2014-2016), Miguel Parrado (2014-2016), Elijah Melendez (2017-2019), Sierra Morris (2017-2019), James Quimby (2017-2019), Taylor Diggs (2019-2021), and Jake Norris (2019-2021).
The following published authors became an editor the subsequent academic year: Walter Zink (1998), Stephen Foland (2001), Thomas Sullivan (2007), Jane Ma (2012), Robert Keener III (2012), L. Miguel Parrado (2014), and Grant Miller (2016).

Priyadarshini Mukherjee (1997) was the first graduate student to be published in the journal.
Chris Paige (1999) was the first freshman to be published in the journal.
Due to the quality of their work, the following students published multiple papers in the journal: Lance Braye (2011, 2012, & 2013), Hannah Dion (2019 & 2021), Robert Keener (2012 & 2014), David Leaumont (twice in 1997), Jane Ma (2012, 2014, & 2015), Franklin McGuire, Jr. (2012 & 2013), Grant Miller (2016 & 2018), Marttin Periola (2009, 2010, & 2011), John Riser (2011 & 2012), Matthew Selmasska (2011 & 2012), Anastasiya Smertina (2001 & 2002), Shiloh Smiles (2021 & 2022), Dean Sproles (1997 & 1998), and Todd Truesdale (2017 & 2018).

Ku-Chu Hsu (2006) and Brian Amen (2006) were the first students to publish photographs in the journal. Their photographs appeared in the 2006 edition.
Due to the quality of their work, the following students published photographs in more than one journal: Dashawn Costley (2020 & 2021), Kaytlynne McCord (2019 & 2022), William Rasberry (2018 & 2019), Erika Sineath (2018 & 2019), Jacob Williams (2021 & 2022).

Scott (2013) and Michael (2016) Holmes are the first siblings to have been published in The GSJ.
James (2020) and Jesse (2023) Quimby are the first siblings to have served as editors of The GSJ.

In 2005, The Gold Star Journal was a Special Merit Award Recipient in the Other Magazines Category of The Case District III Advancement Awards Program. The entry included the 2004, 2003, and 2002 editions of The Gold Star Journal.
In 2021, The 2020 Gold Star Journal received the Athens Paper Award for Most Creative Use of Paper and the Special Judges Award for Soft Cover Booklet, both from the Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA).
In 2022, The 2021 Gold Star Journal received the Special Judges Award for Soft Cover Booklet from the Printing Industry of the Carolinas (PICA).