Conservative Words on a Conservative Number of Pages
Conservative campus publications at major American universities
Forward Article to a Friend
Print Article
Before writing this piece, I had assumed that The Stanford Review isn’t much better or worse than most moderate and conservative campus papers. We do a fairly consistent job at coming out every other week (or even more frequently) with eight to sixteen pages of reporting on campus, national, and international affairs, events, and politics; we are active in campus political debate; we challenge the student body and administration to make Stanford a more welcoming place to open intellectual learning and debate. I had hoped to find not only the same, but even inspiration, during my investigation of other conservative publications.
Yet what I found is quite disappointing. Of the schools I reviewed, only two others (Dartmouth and Cornell) have magazines or papers that come out more than once a month. Most are published only sporadically, and many have yet to put out an issue this academic year. Several publications are not independent, but put out by their school’s chapter of the Campus Republicans or the Conservative Union.
It seems that independent, moderate and conservative publications across the country are in a moribund state. Perhaps the movement that began in the 1980s has fizzled? Perhaps the success of conservative campus publications has made complacent a movement that was predicated on being reactionary and contrarian? Perhaps the Bush presidency has made it less popular to be conservative? I won’t venture an answer here…
I list the schools in alphabetical order. In parentheses, I mark the frequency of publication.
Berkeley: The California Patriot (monthly)
The Berkeley Patriot is Cal’s monthly conservative magazine (and one of the few that publishes regularly!). They have a larger staff and core of writers than most other publications reviewed here, but that’s what you get at a school with 21,000 undergrads. The presentation and amount of content are impressive, but the Patriot’s sophomoric Stanford-bashing is just pathetic.
Brown: The Brown Spectator (sporadically, a few times a year)
Brown is among the country’s more liberal campuses. The Brown Spectator was founded quite recently, in 2001, after a stir caused by David Horowitz laid bare the lack of a conservative voice at Brown. Their issues feature mostly writing on national issues with occasional campus commentary. The Brown Spectator has not had an issue this year.
Columbia: The Columbia Citadel (five or six times a year)
The Citadel is the official paper of the Columbia College Republican. Columbia has no independent conservative paper. It is a relatively meager publication: a few short articles, each composed of a few short paragraphs, a few times a year. And they haven’t published in since 2004.
Cornell: The Cornell Review (twice a month)
The Cornell Review follows in the footsteps of neo-cons like Paul Wolfowitz and Francis Fukuyama in opposing a liberal culture at Cornell. The Review is pugnaciously critical of the university administration and sees as its primary mission to “expose the rampant foolishness and immorality” of the left at Cornell. The Cornell Review appears quite similar to The Stanford Review.
Dartmouth: The Dartmouth Review (every other week)
The Big Daddy of Conservative publications, The Dartmouth Review was founded by Dinesh D’Souza in the early 80s. The Dartmouth Review has remained extremely controversial, publishing tracts on homosexuality, race and other matters. It’s not like there’s much else to do in Hanover…
Duke: The New Sense (dead?)
The New Sense was recently founded by Duke’s Conservative Union and has a long “statement of belief”–-this is a magazine with an agenda. TNS comments mainly on Duke and campus politics, not only criticizing but parodying the administration. There have been no new issues of The New Sense in the last two years.
Harvard: The Harvard Salient (monthly, sometimes biweekly)
The Harvard Salient is Harvard’s monthly conservative paper. The Salient writes primarily on Harvard matters and collegiate culture. When it does turn to national commentary, it often does so through a Harvard lens. This can have its benefits, including up-close coverage of imbroglios like the Larry Summers affair and prominent academics like Harvey Mansfield.
Princeton: The Princeton Tory (every other month)
The Tory is Princeton’s primary conservative paper. It was founded two months before Reagan’s reelection in 1984. In addition to issuing a bimonthly magazine, the Tory has hosted prominent conservative speakers on campus. The Tory, too, seems to have declined–-it was issued only twice this academic year.
Stanford: The Stanford Review (biweekly, sometimes weekly)
The Stanford Review started up in 1987 in reaction to Stanford’s attempt to abolish its Western Civilization core. The Review has remained active in campus politics and challenges the orthodoxy and conformity of Stanford University. You’re holding a copy in your hands right now–- read it, and check out our archives at stanfordreview.org if you want to know more.
University of Chicago: The Chicago Criterion (dead), The Midway Review (quarterly) and The Maroon (daily)
The Chicago Criterion seems to have lain dormant for a number of years.
The Midway Review is a very new quarterly journal. Its essays are somewhat lengthier than those of most publications profiled here. The Review has very little commentary on its campus and seems to restrict itself to general national and international commentary, though this may change as the magazine grows.
The University of Chicago can lay claim to one resource of which none of the other schools profiled can boast–-a daily campus paper whose editorial pages are relatively right-leaning. The Maroon is liberal in the classical sense and will question such matters as a state law banning smoking in dorms or run an article by a feminist exhorting students to read Roe v. Wade before exclaiming its virtues –-questioning issues taken for granted at most places.
Yale: Light and Truth and The Yale Free Press (both sporadic, monthly at best)
Light & Truth and the Free Press both publish lengthier opinion and investigative pieces and have graduated some notable alumni. Unfortunately, both are somewhat sporadic and unpredictable in their schedule. The Free Press’s writing is good when it comes out (one full issue this year, plus some other writing), Light & Truth hasn’t given out an issue in several years.
