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Steven R. Weisman, a member of the editorial board of The New York Times, is chairman of Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., the governing body of the Yale Alumni Magazine, and the author of The Great Tax Wars: Lincoln to Wilson -- The Fierce Battles Over Money and Power that Transformed the Nation, to be published in September by Simon & Schuster. |
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From
the Chairman Summer
2002 Yale has gone through a period of trial and triumph in the last 15 years. Among the challenges it has faced have been the revamping of the curriculum, establishing better relations with New Haven, modernizing admissions policies, and keeping pace with changes in technology in higher education. The era culminated last year with the splendid celebration, under President Richard Levin, of the 300th anniversary of Yale's birth. Chances are that, if you are familiar with these developments, it is because of the magazine you are holding in your hands. Throughout this time, the Yale Alumni Magazine has been produced by an outstanding team led by a great editor, Carter Wiseman '68, who is stepping down this summer after a brilliant run to teach at the Yale School of Architecture.
As chairman of the board that oversees the Yale Alumni Magazine, I want to salute Carter's accomplishment in putting out the best-edited and best-read alumni magazine in the country. Yes, I know that most of you turn to the Class Notes first. But I also know that you read the rest of the magazine with some care. A reader survey last year showed that 90 percent of YAM's subscribers feel the magazine does a good or an excellent job at informing them about Yale. Carter's feat as editor should command the respect and gratitude of all alumni. Beyond the editor's skills, the magazine's success derives from the word "alumni" in the title. Since 1891, for 111 years, this publication has been written and edited for alumni -- a demanding and discerning group of readers. The Yale Alumni Magazine is independent of Yale. In fact, it is the oldest independent alumni magazine in the nation and one of the few remaining in the country. Most of you are probably not aware of the magazine's status. But if you flip through its pages, or look back at its coverage of the last 15 turbulent years at Yale, you will note that Carter has brought a distinctively impartial voice to the magazine's accounts of campus controversies. The magazine's aim in these last years has been to build on its tradition of deepening the loyalty and interest of alumni in Yale -- not by cheerleading or sugarcoating, but by honest journalism. We are proud that YAM has won ten awards in the last seven years for its coverage of such issues as tenure, admissions, student life, and fundraising. Three factors have strengthened the editor's hand in producing a publication of integrity. First, it is published by an independent corporation overseen by a board that includes, to be sure, officers of Yale, but also active alumni, faculty members, and outsiders from the publishing professions. Second, its financial foundation derives not from the University but from class dues, subscriptions, and advertising. Third, Yale and the board are committed to YAM's governing and editorial independence. Not everyone at Yale has always been delighted with some of the articles in our magazine. But Yale has always understood the role of the magazine's straightforward writing and reporting. Let me give you three examples of the unusual contribution of this magazine under Carter Wiseman. In 1995, when Yale had to return a $20 million grant to Lee Bass '79 because of a dispute over the study of Western Civilization, the magazine reported the full story. No other alumni magazine in the country can claim to have so unflinchingly examined such a sensitive matter. Then in 1999, Geoffrey Kabaservice '88 told how in the 1960s two Yale presidents -- A. Whitney Griswold and Kingman Brewster Jr. -- changed the University's admissions policies. The article, entitled "The Birth of a New Institution," brought an outpouring of letters, many of them deeply personal. Finally, last year, the magazine reached new literary heights with a witty, elegant, and affectionate 14,000-word essay by Lewis Lapham '56, "Quarrels with Providence" -- perhaps the best piece of writing prompted by Yale's Tercentennial celebration. The thesis of Lewis's piece was that for 300 years, Yalies have been a cantankerous lot. Holding Yale to almost unreachably high standards is a University tradition, he said. And he is right. Read any letters page and you can see that crankiness and love of Yale go hand in hand. For an alumni magazine to be any good, it must serve all alumni, in all their moods. Yale alumni would accept nothing less. So
on behalf of our readers, we on the board thank Carter for his tremendous
service in keeping that spirit of clear-eyed affection alive. We
pledge to honor his contribution by maintaining the high standards
that he has set. And we thank the readers for supporting the Yale
Alumni Magazine. Long may it continue serving Yale in its distinctive
-- and independent -- way. |
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Yale
Alumni Magazine, PO Box 1905, New Haven, CT 06509-1905. USA.
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