Former Harvard Crimson editor Zachary M. Seward has an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal today about the intersection between college alumni magazines, editorial independence and the demands of fundraising. At schools around the country, development offices -- concerned that negative news being disseminated to alums through their respective magazines is affecting giving rates -- are creating replacements. In Cambridge, leading fund-raisers "determined that Harvard Magazine was no longer serving their best interests," leading the school's office of alumni affairs and development to create The Yard, the Journal reports. In response to this pressure, Seward says that "a coalition of alumni magazine editors last year drafted a statement defending their 'respect for truth, fairness, free inquiry and the presentation of competing ideas,' while also recognizing an obligation to 'advance the mission and well-being of their institutions.'" No word if the Cornell Alumni Magazine was part of this coalition -- or, if the University has been placing similar demands on its editors.
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