Libertarian Magazine
Conservative college college students were stimulated in the early 80s by the Dartmouth Review, a student run journal out of Dartmouth college. Amidst a climate that was hostile to conservatives much like today, the Review paved the way for students to have a voice on left-leaning campuses Its editors along with authors inspired a new generation of Conservatives and Collegiate thinkers.
Since the 80s, the efforts of Conservative university college students have been spurred on by the generous support of organizations like the Collegiate Network. Their generous support is the reason more than 100 colleges today have Conservative magazines on their campus. Since the founding of the Review, however, no Conservative Collegiate magazines have been as notable as that of Brown University’s. The Brown Spectator, founded in 2002, has become an iconic example of how Campus Conservative Magazines should be constructed.
The Spectator’s writers generally focused on in-depth analysis pieces defending Conservatism. At the time of its founding, the Spectator was an outlet for students who had been chastised during the tumultuous Horowitz controversy.
Since then, the Spectator has completely turned its model around. The magazines current iteration was put together by two undergraduate editors, Joshua Unseth and Andrew Kurtzman. Students have been incredibly receptive to the changes. With every new issue, the Spectator’s editors have increased the number of issues printed.
After working with the Spectator, Joshua Unseth turned his eyes on a new goal. He went out and obtained the funding for Closing Remarks, Brown University’s first Christian literary and arts journal. His staff of Ivy League student writers and RISD undergraduate artist may have been the perfect amalgamation of intelligence and creativity. In the end, Closing Remarks might be one of the most interesting, beautiful magazines ever put together by college students. “I purchased ten different magazines that I liked from the Brown University book store and brought them to a staff meeting,” Unseth said. “We crawled through each journal and pulled out elements that we liked. In the end, Closing Remarks is an amalgamation of elements from Harper’s, the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Good Magazine, about five other publications, and the imaginations of the founding staff.” The magazine is all the better as a result. The layout is stunning, and the art is incredible.
The articles range from the controversial articles by college students who support gay marriage and who will argue that Biblical principles back up their point, to depressing articles about dealing with death Closing Remarks, is a forum for all Christian ideas. As the church used to say, there are no heretics in the University. Likewise there are no heretics writing for Closing Remarks.
As was the case in the early part of Reagan’s administration with Conservative magazines, Christian magazines are making an appearance on university campuses all over the America. They now exist on over a dozen college campuses. Unseth says that Closing Remarks was by no means the first. It might have been the third or fourth magazine of its kind. But even if Closing Remarks wasn’t the first student-run Christian newspaper in the country, it in no way diminishes the work Unseth can be credited for. Unseth left Brown a much better place than he left it. His magazine and the Spectator are like his permanent footprint in the nations’ 7th oldest college. His work gave underrepresented students a voice. “I would have started a liberal magazine if I were on a Conservative campus,” Unseth joked. “I’m a natural born pariah, but I’m likable.” Whatever the case may be, in the era of dying newspapers and magazines, students like Mr. Unseth are the future of the industry.
The Brown Spectator is full of great articles like Morse v. Frederick.
May 28 2010 06:51 am | Uncategorized