Formerly known as On Century Avenue, OCA, the student publication went through a rebranding under the decision of the publication management. Since the campus would no longer be located on 1555 Century Avenue, the name would not be suitable anymore.

In Spring 2022, while continuing to publish articles under the OCA name, the leadership team worked closely with advisor Professor David Maguire to start the transition. When On Century Avenue decided to rebrand, leadership created a mission statement based on the goals of the organization.

“On Magnolia Square produces truthful, balanced, timely, and engaging need and information to better serve the community at NYU Shanghai”.

Another major step with the rebranding was choosing a new name. Current members put forth name suggestions including: NYU Shanghai Today, The Violet, NOCA (Not On Century Avenue), and more. Ultimately, it was decided to use On Magnolia Square to represent the school’s logo of a magnolia. The hope was that the new name would stay timeless and spark student dialogue throughout the campus and beyond. 

After selecting a name, the marketing committee collaborated with members of two other committees and created the On Magnolia Square logo. Christian Franke, class of 2024, was the lead designer for the new logo. Ha Vi Do Ngoc and Emily Wei, both class of 2024, were supporting designers who helped make the logo what it is today.

(On Magnolia Square logo

credits: On Magnolia Square)

Additionally to the visual rebranding, leadership altered the committees offered by Magnolia Square based on feedback from the students. Most notably, On Magnolia Square added the People of NYU Shanghai, Multimedia, Arts & Culture, and Travel committees.

The last major revision was the building of the new website, onmagnoliasquare.com. During the summer term, a new website was developed while the OCA website was scheduled to be retired. Articles published before Fall 2022 will be moved to an archive section on the new website.

With the start of the new semester, On Magnolia Square officially launched as the rebranded student-run and student-lead publication.