The Lance was the Assumption University/University of Windsor student newspaper from 1959 to 2019. It began publishing with volume 31, no. 12 on February 26^th, 1959, and continued the previous student newspaper called the Purple and White.
 
When Assumption College became Assumption University in 1956, the colour gold was added to purple and white as the University colours. For this reason, the newspaper editorial staff felt that a name change was desirable. The “Lancers” had already started to be the name of the University’s intercollegiate sports teams and “since the lance is the weapon of the lancer, the thought was that it would be appropriate as the voice or weapon, so to speak, of Assumption students” (February 26^th, 1959, page 2).
 
For over 50 years, the Lance has reported on events of interest to the University community. This includes the founding of the University of Windsor in 1962/1963, which led to a complete revamping of the University’s administrative structure, and rapid expansion of both the University campus and student body. Articles have covered a wide variety of campus political, cultural, and sporting events. In addition, Lance reporters have reported on broader issues such as access to education, university funding, drug addiction, the environment, gender equality, and racial discrimination. Student views on national and international stories are also abundant.
 
In 2016, the University of Windsor Students Alliance (UWSA) decided to stop publishing a print version of the Lance; the last print issue was volume 88, no. 26, which appeared on April 6^th, 2016. During the school year 2016-2017, publication was completely suspended. From September 2017 to April 2019, the Lance was nominally published online at http://uwindsorlance.com
 
In reality, the transition from the print Lance to the online Lance is a little more complicated. The student newspaper has had an online presence since at least 2002. Here are some of the pre-September 2017 examples:
 
 
Lance Online
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.thelanceonline.ca
Active 2002-2007
Only a small portion of the content is archived
 
Paper Trails: The Official Blog of the Lance
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.thelanceonline.blogspot.com
Active 2006-2009
Only a small portion of the content is archived
 
Lance: Past the Pages
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.pastthepages.ca
Active 2007-2011
Some of the content is still online; some is archived on the Wayback Machine.
 
The Lance
https://issuu.com/uwindsorlance
Active 2011-2016
Still online; pdf files for all issues from Vol. 84: no. 1 (2011: Aug. 29) – Vol. 88: no. 26 (2016: April 6)
 
The Lance@UWindsorLance
https://twitter.com/uwindsorlance?lang=en
Active 2014-2016
Still online; additional material; the most recent tweets were posted after the UWSA had officially suspended the Lance, and the banner reads: Vol. 89 (2016-2017)