View source for The Cornell Review

{{Short description|Cornell University student newspaper}}
{{about-distinguish|the fortnightly newspaper founded in 1984|Cornell Law Review}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name               = The Cornell Review
| image              = Cornell Review May 1 2012 front.jpg
| caption            =
| type               = [[Student newspaper|Student]] published [[fortnightly]]
| format             = [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|Tabloid]] in newsprint
| founded            = 1984
| ceased_publication = 
| owners             = Ithaca Review, Inc.
| publisher          = 
| editor             = Isabella Cho
| circulation        = 2,000{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}
| political_position = [[American conservatism|Conservative]], [[Libertarianism|Libertarian]]
| headquarters       = [[Ithaca, New York]], U.S.
| ISSN               = 
| website            = [http://thecornellreview.org thecornellreview.org] 
}}

'''''The Cornell Review''''' is an independent [[newspaper]] published by students of [[Cornell University]] in [[Ithaca, New York]]. With the motto, "We Do Not Apologize," the ''Review'' has a  history in [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] journalism and was once one of the leading college conservative publications in the United States. While the ideological makeup of its staff shifts over the years, the paper has consistently accused Cornell of adhering to [[left-wing politics]] and [[political correctness]], delivered with a signature [[anti-establishment]] tone. {{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

==History==

===Founding===
''The Cornell Review'' was founded on Cornell's Ithaca campus in 1984. Jim Keller, a government major, founded ''The Cornell Review'' during his senior year in the spring of 1984. The paper drew immediate and critical attention for its discordant rhetoric and "shock journalism". [[Ann Coulter]], then an undergraduate in the [[Cornell University Department of History|history department]] of the [[Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences|College of Arts and Sciences]], served as its editor during the fall of 1984.

Much of the paper's structure in the early years was influenced by the unanticipated success of the ''[[Dartmouth Review]]'' at [[Dartmouth College]], which inspired conservative students at other institutions to found similar newspapers. The Institute for Educational Affairs, founded in 1978 to assist conservative academics, created The Collegiate Network in 1984 to offer these groups technical and financial assistance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isi.org/cn/about/history.aspx |title=Collegiate Network - About the CN - History |access-date=2006-02-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511165454/http://www.isi.org/cn/about/history.aspx |archive-date=2006-05-11 }}</ref>

During the 1980s the ''Review'' targeted [[affirmative action]], [[gay rights]], [[communism|communist]] sympathizers, [[abortion]], and anti-[[apartheid]] activists, while defending the [[Reagan Administration]], the [[fraternities and sororities|Greek system]], and the university administration (against [[strike action|striking]] workers). It notably criticized university-sponsored [[ethnicity]]-oriented residential communities, known as "program houses", as [[Racial segregation|segregationist]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cornellsun.com/node/3213 |title=Segregation argument not valid {{pipe}} the Cornell Daily Sun |access-date=2008-12-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928233350/http://cornellsun.com/node/3213 |archive-date=2011-09-28 }}</ref>

In 1986, some students voiced their opposition to the paper by seeking out and shredding nearly every copy of one issue at a multitude of locations on campus during the early morning hours after delivery.

===Merger with ''Cornell American''===
In 1992, before the ''Review'' had backed down from its more controversial positions, a deliberately unsensational rival publication began printing called ''The Cornell American''. It became the ''demesne'' of [[social conservative]]s until it ceased publishing in 1996.

In 2003 and 2004, successive editors began a controversial revamp of the ''Review'', swinging it toward a more [[libertarian conservatism]] and a more neutral editorial position.  In response, former ''Review'' writer and activist Ryan Horn resurrected a new ''Cornell American'' to take up the [[social conservatism]] from which the ''Review'' had distanced itself.  The ''Cornell Review'' and the ''Cornell American'' had switched roles: the ''Review'' had become the calmer and lower profile paper, and the ''American'' the more traditional.

Rivalry between the ''Review'' and the ''American'' began to die down during the ensuing years as the staffs of the respective papers changed and the editorial positions of both papers began to converge. In April 2007, students from the ''Review'' and the ''American'' agreed to merge the two papers in the interest of preserving a conservative voice on campus. The ''Review'' assumed the ''American'''s slogan: "Limited Government, Traditional Values, America First." It then reverted to the original ''Review'' slogan, "The Conservative Voice on Campus," until it changed to "We Do Not Apologize" in late 2014. The change was made due to the growing libertarian nature of the newspaper's staff and editorial stance.

===21st century===
The ''Review'' was embroiled in several controversies in the 1990s. In 1993, its funding was threatened after it printed a [[cartoon]] critical of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Bill Clinton]]'s move to permit homosexuals in the [[United States armed forces|U.S. military]] which was widely called [[homophobia|homophobic]].{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

In 1997, the ''Review'' printed an anonymous editorial lampooning the [[Oakland Ebonics resolution|Oakland, California school district's move to teach in African-American English (AAE)]]. Entitled "So U Be Wantin' to Take Dis Class," it presented a mock catalogue of courses taught in a pastiche of AAE, for instance "Da white man be evil an he tryin' to keep da brotherman down. We's got [[Al Sharpton|Sharpton]] and [[Louis Farrakhan|Farrakhan]] so who da...man now, white boy." A student protest followed in which a number of copies of the ''Review'' were burned. The editors defended the editorial as [[satire]] and criticized the burning as suppression of [[free speech]].

The ''Review'' historically prints pieces that bring great debate and controversy. In the autumn of 2002, ''Cornell Review Online'' published a column by [https://web.archive.org/web/20050903193532/http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2002/december_2002_1.html Elliott Reed] whose ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20050517031057/http://www.cornellreview.org/viewart.cgi?num=258 Good Vibrations]'' piece exposed a coverup of [[Vibrator (sex toy)|vibrators]] to be sold at the campus health center.  Reed discovered an email to a [[listserv]] which claimed the health center had agreed to sell vibrators and solicited comments from female students.  The university claimed the email "jumped the gun", as no decision had been made at that time.  The ''Review'' was awarded a "Campus Outrage" nod from the conservative organization, [[Accuracy in Academia]], for the piece.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

The ''Review'' found itself in uncharted territory in 2008, with the election of 2008 and a national trend toward more liberal thinking. It marked the first time since 2001 that a Democratic president had been in office, but for the Review, the election of [[Barack Obama]] marked a greater shift on Cornell's campus. The ''Review'' conducted a poll in 2012 that found that 60% of Cornell students that were registered to vote would be voting for Obama, compared to 14% for Mitt Romney.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecornellreview.com/|title=The Cornell Review|website=www.thecornellreview.com}}</ref>

==Cornell Insider==
In December 2008, ''The Cornell Review'' started its blog, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130814133646/http://blog.thecornellreview.com/ Cornell Insider]. It is primarily focused on breaking campus events.

The Insider has been linked by blogs of all sizes, including [[IvyGate]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ivygateblog.com/2010/11/cornell-student-yawns-in-class-professor-loses-his-mind/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119011723/http://www.ivygateblog.com/2010/11/cornell-student-yawns-in-class-professor-loses-his-mind |archive-date=2010-11-19 |title=Cornell Student Yawns in Class, Professor Loses His Mind > control freak, Cornell, crazy people, Mark Talbert, what hath god wrought {{!}} IvyGate}}</ref> [[Legal Insurrection]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collegeinsurrection.com/2012/11/cornell-conservatives-not-shocked-not-somber/|title=Cornell conservatives — not shocked, not somber|date=7 November 2012}}</ref> [[Campus Reform]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.campusreform.org/blog/?ID=4509|title = Campus Reform the #1 Source for College News}}</ref>

The website also broke stories that were followed by media outlets, including ''[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/54339-frank-on-afghanistan-more-people-need-protection-from-criminals-than-al-qaeda/|title=Frank on Afghanistan: More people 'need protection from criminals' than al Qaeda|date=9 November 2009}}</ref> [[RealClearPolitics]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/11/09/frank_more_people_need_protection_from_criminals_than_al-qaeda.html|title=Frank: More People Need "Protection from Criminals" Than al-Qaeda {{pipe}} RealClearPolitics}}</ref> and ''[[The O'Reilly Factor]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4425943/teacher-loses-his-cool-over-yawning-student/?playlist_id=87275 |title=The O'Reilly Factor {{pipe}} Bill O'Reilly {{pipe}} Fox News |website=[[Fox News]] |access-date=2014-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513031315/http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/oreilly/index.html#/v/4425943/teacher-loses-his-cool-over-yawning-student/?playlist_id=87275 |archive-date=2014-05-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Management and operations==
The ''Review'' was incorporated in 1986 as The Ithaca Review, Inc. The editorial staff is headed by an undergraduate editor-in-chief, while the business staff is headed by an undergraduate president.

Funding for the ''Review'' comes primarily from the [[Collegiate Network]], a syndicate of conservative campus newspapers funded by the [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]].

===Notable alumni===
* [[Ann Coulter]], conservative social and political commentator
* [[Kenneth K. Lee]], United States Circuit Judge
* [[Jamie Weinstein]], host of [[The Dispatch]] Podcast, former senior editor of ''[[The Daily Caller]]'',

==See also==
{{portal|Conservatism}}
* [[Collegiate Network]]
* [[Cornell University]]
* ''[[The Cornell Daily Sun]]''

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* ''[http://www.thecornellreview.org The Cornell Review Official Website post-2016]''
* ''[http://www.thecornellreview.com The Cornell Review Official Website pre-2016]''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20080515203847/http://cornellsun.com/node/23431 Cornell American, Cornell Review Merge]''
* [[Nat Hentoff|Hentoff, Nat]].  "[https://web.archive.org/web/20010912010736/http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/9739/hentoff.php Setting Fire to Offensive Ideas]," ''[[The Village Voice]]'', September 24, 1997
* Ruby-Sachs, Emma and Waligore, Timothy. "[http://www.thenation.com/article/once-bright-star-dims A Once-Bright Star Dims]," ''[[The Nation (U.S. periodical)|The Nation]]'', February 17, 2003.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060130/http://www.cornellsun.com/node/13365 The Cornell American: Taking a positive course]''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607054433/http://www.cornellsun.com/node/10864 To Do a New Review]''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607054451/http://www.cornellsun.com/node/10758 Cornell Review's Decline]''
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20110607060142/http://www.cornellsun.com/node/3152 Chalkings Offend Ujamaa Residents]''

{{Cornell}}
{{Ivy League conservative publications}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell Review, The}}
[[Category:1984 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1984]]
[[Category:Conservative magazines published in the United States]]
[[Category:Cornell University publications]]
[[Category:Libertarian publications]]
[[Category:Student newspapers published in New York (state)]]