The Peak was founded on October 6, 1965 through the merger of SFU's two original student newspapers, The Tartan and The SF View. The Tartan had published six issues under the editorship of Lorne Mallin, while the SF View had published one, edited by Rick McGrath. Because no name had yet been decided, the first printed issue was unnamed; the October 20, 1965 issue was the first to carry the banner of The Peak. The Peak achieved full financial and editorial autonomy from the Student Society in a 1995 decision, bringing The Peak in line with the majority of Canadian student newspapers. Student newspapers seek autonomy mostly to avoid conflicts of interest, in which the Student Society, or the University, attempts to exert control over the content of the paper. Notable Peakalumni include journalist and author Allen Garr, Vancouver Provincecopy editor Lorne Mallin, author and interviewer John Sawatsky, award-winning Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang, comedian Mark Little from Comedy Network's Picnicface, and Charles Demers, a comedian and author of Vancouver Special.
Staff and structures
There are 15 editors who comprise the Peak Editorial Board: Editor-in-Chief, Copy, Production and Design, Assistant Production and Design, News, Assistant News, Opinions, Features, Arts, Sports, Humour, Photo, Multimedia, and Assistant Multimedia. They also have three possible staff writer positions available, as well as a volunteer proofreader position. All editorial roles, with the exception of Editor-in-Chief and volunteer proofreader are hired on a semesterly basis. Editors may, and very often do, seek multiple terms, sometimes ultimately spanning several years. There is no Sports Editor position in the summer semester. Until December 2016 there was a paid proofreader position, but it was discontinued as a paid position. There are several non-editorial roles, hired at an hourly/salary rate, which are not rehired each semester, including Social Media and Promotions Coordinator, Business Manager, Web Manager, and Distribution Manager. The Business Manager has historically been the most long-lived position at the paper, and is thus the repository for much of the newspaper's institutional memory. The Peak also maintains a board of directors under the larger Peak Publications Society, which makes certain other decisions, mostly financial in nature. This board is made up partly of editorial staff, partly of "at large" representatives, and of The Peak's business manager. From 1980 to September 2012, The Peak functioned as a collective, without a Managing Editor or Editor-in-Chief position. Each editor maintained general control of their section, while broader decisions were made democratically by the editorial board as a whole. Peak editors were elected by the paper's voting "collective," which formally consisted of all editors and recent writers, for a period of one semester. As of September 2014, "The Peak" once again operates under the management of an Editor-in-Chief, with a hiring process used to employ section editors. The Editor-in-Chief is still an elected role as of February 2019. Like many student newspapers in British Columbia, The Peak is formally run as a registered non-profit society under the BC Societies Act, known as the Peak Publications Society. Technically all SFU students are members of the Peak Society, and refundable membership dues are imposed on all students at SFU as part of the university's student activity fee, which are used to partially fund the paper's operations.
Editors-in-Chief
Alison Roach worked as News Editor and Coordinating Editor before moving into the Editor-in-Chief role which was developed during her time at the newspaper. Max James Hill worked as Copy Editor, Features Editor, and Opinions Editor before being elected EIC twice. Courtney Miller worked as Copy Editor before taking on the role. She also spent some time as interim Business Manager during a changeover in personnel. Alex Bloom worked as Assistant Multimedia Editor and Arts Editor before taking on the EIC role.
Coordinating Editors
Copy Editors
News Editors
Opinions Editors
Features Editors
Arts Editors
Sports Editors
Humour Editors
Production and Design Editors
Multimedia Editors
Photo Editors
News Writers (''Assistant News Editors'' prior to Fall 2019)
Assistant Production and Design Editors
Assistant Multimedia Editors
Staff Writers
Volunteer Proofreaders
Printing
The Peak publishes weekly during SFU's regular semesters, which totals 13 issues per semester, and 39 per year. Currently, The Peak is one of very few student newspapers that continues to run weekly issues during the summer. Like most of Canada's major student newspapers, The Peak is a member of the Canadian University Press.
Edmonton Journal columnist Michael Hingston published a fictionalized account of his time at The Peak, titled The Dilettantes. It was named one of CBC Books' must-read books of Fall 2013.
