[1] The first iteration of the newspaper, The Eagle, was founded by Everett Gamage for the 1921–22 Santa Barbara State Teachers' College school year.

[2] In 1986, while the paper was under the guidance of Editor-in-Chief William Diepenbrock, News Editor Steve Elzer broke the story that UCSB Chancellor Robert Huttenback was under investigation for misappropriating university funds.

What initially had begun as an article on the sudden departure of a UCSB vice chancellor eventually ended in an exposé of Huttenback's financial activities.

The Daily Nexus story drew other media coverage and intense university pressure for Huttenback to resign, which he did months later on July 11, 1986.

Represented by the ACLU, the Daily Nexus and Molloy alleged that the governor had initiated secret discussions among the Board to secure the outcome of the vote, in violation of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act.

The Nexus argued that its investigation was delayed because the governor had illegally denied requests for public information – but the suit finally was dismissed by the California Supreme Court for failure to file within the statute of limitations.

In 2002, Nexus staff writers Marisa Lagos and Jennifer B. Siverts provided daily coverage of the quadruple murder trial of David Attias, who, as a UCSB freshman on February 23, 2001, sped a car through the streets of Isla Vista, killing four people.

In July 2002, a Santa Barbara jury found Attias guilty of second-degree murder but legally insane at the time of the incident.

[5] In 2011, Nexus managing editor Lexi Pandell received the California College Media Association's "Best Feature Story" award[6][7] for a piece about five students who died from drug and alcohol-related accidents during an 18-month span.