Vassar Democrats gear up for new publication Quorum

Sarah Brown Guest Writer

Even when it’s not election time, there is no denying the fact that the political undercurrent of Vassar swings to the left. Of course, this polarization isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We pride ourselves on being a progressive liberal arts institution.

Yet how can it be possible that the majority of Vassar students hold the same political views? Isn’t the term liberal a bit too simple to describe the beliefs of our student body? According to Quorum Editor in Chief Ethan Hallerman, it was these types of questions that prompted the creation of Quorum, the new political publication produced by the College Democrats. Quorum, which is actually a revamped reincarnation of last semester’s DP, aims at exploring the often-ignored intricacies of so-called “liberal” issues, as well as examining issues across party lines.

“Last semester I wrote an essay on file-sharing and copyright law, because I thought it was relevant to Vassar students, but also unexplored. ‘Liberal’ and ‘conservative’ were pretty irrelevant labels in that case,” explained Hallerman.

Quorum does not require that every submission be a straightforward issue or policy essay. “We’d like to find a balance between making a genuine effort to be interesting and intelligent and not seeming to take ourselves too seriously,” said Hallerman.

Quorum aims to be a publication that is thought-provoking and helps to foster a richer political dialogue on campus. They accept submissions about local or campus issues that, as Hallerman put it, “reflect the intellectual diversity within what sometimes seems like a politically uniform campus.”

The first issue will be published by the end of the semester, with plans in the works for two issues in the spring. The deadline for fall submissions is Oct. 27. Submissions and questions can be sent to vassarquorum@gmail.com.