[3] According to the newspaper's first editorial, the name "Gateway" was chosen because "there is something unique about our position in this institution, the university farthest north in America and farthest West in Canada, standing at the portal of a great undeveloped and practically unknown region, rich in potentialities of future greatness.

"[4] In 1938, The Gateway became a founding member of Canadian University Press (CUP), a non-profit news wire service owned by post-secondary student newspapers across Canada.

In 2002, the paper ran a successful referendum campaign for its autonomy and became an independent entity run by the Gateway Student Journalism Society (GSJS).

The paper is funded by a combination of advertising revenue and a student levy approved at the time of the autonomy campaign.

The Gateway has been published primarily as a twice-weekly publication, appearing on campus on most Tuesdays and Thursdays during the fall and winter terms.

Additionally, a joke issue spoofing a different newspaper or magazine is run every year at the end of the winter term.

[14] Since then, the GAA has tracked down 800 lost alumni, hosted the Gateway's 95th and 100th anniversary dinners, and completed an online digital archive of the newspaper in partnership with the University of Alberta library.

Any volunteer who contributed five or more submissions—writing, photographs, graphics, comics, administrative or editorial assistance and design—that appeared in the Gateway is also a member.