Braden Hall is a current first-year Ph.D. student studying social psychology.

You ever laughed before? Feels good, doesn’t it? Of course it does. People like to laugh. People need to laugh, and I’m sure there’s some study out there that confirms that, but just take my word for now. I didn’t have time to find one. I’m a busy man and I don’t work for you.

I’ll get right to the point: The University of Alabama needs more comedic outlets. 

In a society and on a campus that is constantly bombarded with stress, negativity and the weight of the world, students, staff and faculty alike are constantly looking for relief. Humor — that is, good-natured humor, not prep-school social humiliation and locker room jokes — provides us with not only a smile or chuckle, but a place to rest our feet for a while, a reprieve from the harsh reality we find ourselves in. 

So, where do we get the laughs?

Well, students, and people at large, have long been drawn to the satirical content of The Onion and “Saturday Night Live” and the humorist writings and cartoons featured in The New Yorker. Beyond national publications and productions, universities all across the country have a long history of publishing humor magazines/articles/columns like The Harvard Lampoon, the Texas Travesty or The Yale Record. 

So, my opinion is that there exists a need and an opportunity before us. Students have a long-held and evident knack for finding humor in situations, and embody an outstanding ability to write about and illustrate it. 

Look into the distance and imagine this with me. Are you looking? 

A publication filled with humorous articles, satirical cartoons, and simple jokes written and illustrated by students, for students. Doesn’t it look great?

A realistic first-day-of-school guide, a cartoon illustration of your major’s average student, a real-life conversation with that annoying multifactor authentication service, an explanation of Dining Dollars to someone from out of town, the newest parking services headlines, a hot take on Tuscaloosa’s best and worst restaurants. The list is endlessly entertaining.

So, if these sound like stories you could write, or if someone besides your mom has said you’re funny, then I’d love to hear from you. Shoot me an email. Take me out to dinner. Maybe what this campus needs is a new publication, a publication written to make people laugh and nothing more, and maybe you’re the person who could help us write it. I’ll even buy you a doughnut, but please volunteer to Venmo me afterwards.