Nathan
Douglas Hathaway
1979 - 2005
Former
editor in chief helped The Collegian
win awards, independent funding
 Former Collegian editor in chief
Nathan Hathaway died Thursday in San Francisco. He was 26.
Hathaway, who joined The Collegian staff in the spring of 2003 and served
as editor in chief for the 2004-2005 academic year, suffered from a ruptured
aneurysm Oct. 27 while on campus.
He is survived by his parents Brian and Cynthia, brothers Matt and Adam,
sister Dawn and her baby daughter Brielle, whom Hathaway saw born just
a day before he was hospitalized.
“He just said ‘I’ll be there,’” Matt said.
“He watched the baby be born, he held the baby.”
Hathaway was still enrolled at Fresno State this semester, and he has
received his degree in mass communication and journalism, Vice President
of Student Affairs Paul Oliaro said.
Oliaro made clear it was not a gift.
“He had the units,” he said. “This is something he earned.”
Hathaway was also working toward a minor in Spanish, a language he had
become familiar with in Mexico where he conducted his two-year mission
for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Fresno State Spanish instructor Elsa Castillo, who had Hathaway in an
intermediate Spanish course, said he was an excellent student who was
helpful to others in the class.
“Even though his level of Spanish was so high, he was always willing
to work with them,” Castillo said.
Hathaway’s work ethic was something brother Matt saw as well.
“Everything he did, he did to the best of his ability,” Matt
said, adding Nathan never took shortcuts.
Matt said his brother’s interest in journalism appeared “fairly
early on, when he wanted to be a sports writer.
“He started following the San Antonio Spurs because of David Robinson,
who was a good player and was morally upright.”
Matt said his brother always tried to live by those standards.
“He was golden,” Matt said. “If he didn’t know
you, he would put you first. That’s the kind of guy he was.”
Former Collegian editor in chief and sports editor Eddie Hughes said Hathaway
did things for The Collegian that will live on.
“He had a huge impact,” Hughes said. “(Under him) we
won awards and improved the product. His stories and his editing were
part of that.”
A lasting legacy of Hathaway at Fresno State will be his work on The Collegian
referendum last spring that secured independent funding for The Collegian.
Journalism professor and faculty adviser Greg Lewis said Hathaway led
the student effort for the measure.
“He spent quite a bit of time studying the ins and outs of the proposal,”
Lewis said.
Because of Hathaway, The Collegian is among a small group of campus newspapers
with independent funding, Lewis said. He believes Fresno State and Sacramento
State are the only two CSU campuses with such a system.
“The consequence is much greater than the typical student realizes,”
Lewis said. “If that didn’t pass, we would have had to go
to a weekly.”
Current Collegian editor in chief Maurice Ndole said Hathaway’s
legacy, along with The Collegian’s future, is secure.
“He was a great predecessor,” Ndole said. “He guaranteed
The Collegian a future.”
Associated Students President Jennifer Reimer, who was AS vice president
of finances when Hathaway was working on the referendum, said the measure
was very important to him.
“I truly enjoyed working with Nathan,” she said. “He
was very passionate about The Collegian and cared about doing a good job
serving students.”
A memorial service is planned this Sunday at the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints on Camden Ave. in San Jose.
The Department of Mass Communication and Journalism has created the Nathan
Hathaway Collegian Scholarship.
For details on the scholarship call 278-2087.
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