Flagler Student Brings Strike Magazine To Campus

By Madison Sloan

As a marketing and business major at Flagler College, Mitchell Linville never imagined he would become the editor-in-chief of a lifestyle magazine. However, while stuck in quarantine over the summer, he came up with an idea.

During the fall semester of 2020, Linville created Flagler’s very own edition of Strike Magazine, a student-run publication dedicated to cultivating creative communities on college campuses.

Although his idea initially started off as a personal project, Linville also wanted to give students a way to gain professional experience through their involvement with the publication.

“We have a lot of students that are art majors and I felt like there wasn’t a creative way for those students to express themselves and build their portfolios,” Linville said. “I wanted them to have an outlet that is both professional and has a brand name to it, so in the future when they are graduating or applying to internships, they have this very real-world experience without the real- world entry barriers.”

To work out logistics, Linville met with the founder of the magazine, Hannah Kealy, who started Strike in 2016 at Florida State University. In the past five years, more colleges have developed their own editions of Strike Magazine and each one has a very unique personality under the brand.

Linville first interviewed with Kealy back in September and was skeptical about how much work being an editor-in-chief would entail. However, the magazine quickly began to take over his life.

For each issue of the magazine, Linville is in charge of coming up with a theme, detailing photoshoot concepts and managing the staff, which consists of 40 members and around 60 models.

“It really is a great experience for running a company and managing people because I am constantly on zoom meetings and figuring out ways to be constructive with my criticism,” he said.

With the second photoshoot finished, Linville and his team are looking forward to their spring issue coming together.

“I think seeing our founding issue will be a proud moment for not only me but also for the models, photographers and everyone involved,” Linville said. “I am really excited to see the release of the entire magazine and to be able to give something back to everyone that has worked so hard on it.”

Flagler’s first issue of Strike will be released both digitally and in print this April. The publication will include six photoshoots and 12 written pieces all focusing on a specific theme, which is to be announced once the magazine is published.

For more information about Strike Magazine and the upcoming issues, visit their website, https://linktr.ee/strikeflagler, or social media pages.