Conservatives and Controversy: On Recent Tensions Within the Harvard Salient

The Harvard Salient’s Board of Directors announced on Oct. 25 that the conservative student publication would suspend operations pending an internal investigation, citing “reprehensible, abusive, and demeaning material” in recent articles and “deeply disturbing and credible complaints about the broader culture of the organization.” Days later, Editor-in-Chief Richard Rodgers ’28 denounced the board’s statement as an “unauthorized usurpation of power,” further deepening divisions within the organization. The dispute echoes the growing campus divide between those who value the Salient as a conservative outlet and those who believe it has shifted to a right-wing, radical journal. 

Founded in 1981, the publication first emerged during the Reagan administration as a journalistic counterpoint to liberal perspectives dominating national and campus narratives. Its 2021 revival coincided with a national surge in right-wing thought among college students between President Donald Trump’s first and second terms.

The Salient operates within a long tradition of student journalism. The University’s major publications include the Harvard Crimson, founded in 1873 and recognized as the nation’s oldest continuously published daily college newspaper; the Harvard Lampoon, founded in 1876 and known as one of the longest-running continually published humor magazines in the world; and the Harvard Independent, founded in 1969 in response to media censorship during the Vietnam War and now Harvard’s oldest weekly newspaper. Together, these outlets define the campus media landscape, with the Salient positioning itself as the representative right-leaning voice.

The Salient distributes six to eight print issues across campus while maintaining a steady stream of online editorials. 

Recently, the Salient faced backlash over its “Fraternitas” issue, which featured opinion pieces criticizing the 1999 Harvard-Radcliffe merger and describing leftism as “a mental illness.” A few weeks after the issue’s release, the Board issued its campus notice.

“The Harvard Salient’s Board of Directors was an unauthorized usurpation of power by a small number of individuals acting outside the bounds of their authority. This action was taken without notice to or consent from the duly appointed leadership of the organization and in direct violation of the bylaws governing The Harvard Salient,” Rodgers wrote. According to him, the Salient will continue to operate. Since the statement, however, no new articles have been uploaded to the website, and the paper’s status remains unclear. 

The Board of Directors consists largely of Salient alumni and former editors who oversee the publication’s long-term mission and finances. While the student team manages the day-to-day content, the Board handles broader authority.

Members of the Salient’s Board of Directors and Ex Officio advisors declined to comment. Rodgers has not responded to the Independent at this time. 

Nonetheless, other students have offered their thoughts on this publicly broadcast friction.

Co-President of the Harvard College Democrats, Jack Tueting ’27, spoke on the Salient’s pause in operations.“[The Salient] made it their mission to support conservative dialogue, but it’s veered towards echoing extreme right-wing, fascist rhetoric,” Tueting said in an interview with the Harvard Independent.

While the Salient classifies itself as “neither partisan nor narrowly political,” some students share Tueting’s concerns about the messages that the Salient conveys beyond its most recent publications.

“I like engaging with other viewpoints, and I think the Salient is a great opportunity to do so, but when they’re overtaken by these very, very alt-right views, it’s hard to have a legitimate conversation when the person I’m arguing with is accidentally quoting Hitler,” Stephen Behun ’28 told the Independent. 

Behun referenced a September editorial that was reminiscent of one of Hitler’s 1939 speeches delivered to the Reichstag, in which he said nationalistic phrases such as “Germany belongs to the Germans” and “blood and soil.” Both of these Nazi phrases were used in the Salient piece that has since been removed from the website.

Screenshots of the article spread quickly on campus social media, prompting calls for clarification and sparking debates. Rodgers, however, remained firm in the quality of the narrative and larger publication. “Neither the author nor the editors recognized the resemblance and that the phrase long predates the Third Reich,” Rodgers wrote in response to the controversy in another Salient article.

The incident instilled a strong correlation between the article and the possible ideologies of the Salient.“If you’re a student echoing fascist sentiment or quoting Hitler or engaging in Nazi ideology, that is not freedom from consequences from your board,” Tueting said.

“The University-wide Statement on Rights and Responsibilities (USRR) expresses our strong commitment to free speech, including the right to protest and dissent,” President Alan Garber ’76 emphasized in an April 2025 letter to members of the Harvard community. “Our effort builds on the University’s work over the last year to clarify further the rights and responsibilities we share while reaffirming free expression, mutual respect, and content-neutral enforcement.” The University’s efforts to advance these goals come amid pressure from the Trump administration, which has accused Harvard of favoring liberal and antisemitic viewpoints.

Though the University affirms bipartisanship, Harvard College nonetheless has a conservative minority. According to the Independent’s Fall 2024 Political Survey conducted before election day, 302 students said they would vote for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, compared with the 60 who supported Republican nominee Donald Trump. This data is similarly reflected by the Independent’s Fall 2024 Sex Survey, in which, out of 672 responses, 73.1% identified as liberal, 14.7% as conservative, and 12.2% as moderates.

“How could [Republican students] not [be marginalized] when they’re outnumbered 10 to one among peers and nearly a hundred to one among faculty,” Rodgers told the Independent in October. 

While the present political minority on campus, the conservative-centered Salient, and its 21 active members serve as a part of this small but present community. “Conservatives are always aware that they’re in the minority… It forces you to form your beliefs more fully, to articulate your convictions more carefully,” Rodgers continued. 

While the minority on campus, some students feel that conservatives have been strengthened by the recent rise of right-wing influence. 

“Some of these articles may have been emboldened by inflamed tensions and Trump being elected to a second term. Certainly, there’s much more of a market for these more extreme opinions in the Republican base and perhaps young minds in general,” Behun said. “It looks like maybe they’re trying to work on some deeper core issues, and those recent articles are more symptoms of that.”

“Having the opportunity to push back against a different idea in a respectful and informed way is something maybe we haven’t been seeing as much of recently, but what I would hope to see from the Salient,” Behun added.

The controversy seems not to center on the Salient’s mission as a platform for conservative thought, but on the rhetoric featured in some of its recent articles. 

The Salient typically publishes approximately 10 editorials per month, along with themed print issues that compile a month’s worth of writing and are distributed to students across campus. In the days before the pause, publication accelerated, with seven articles appearing between Oct. 20 and Oct. 23. Since operations were halted, it is unclear if and when publication will resume both online and in print.

“There is still strong journalism happening on campus, on both sides of the aisle, from all different perspectives,” Tueting continued. “This is an example of good people who still have good ideas pushing back against these radical ideas.”

Amid criticism and uncertainty, others view the pause as an opportunity for the Salient to reshape its voice toward broader, more inclusive dialogue. 

“I’ve had a lot of really great conversations with people who identify as conservative, maybe not necessarily members of this current Republican party, but are definitely right-leaning,” Behun emphasized. “I do not see those views always reflected in a publication like the Salient. I would like to see more of that.”

Sophia Gonzalez ’28 (sophiagonzalez@college.harvard.edu) writes News for the Independent.