FROM THE EDITORS

We can no longer rely on the legacy of '68 to speak for students in the present. Although the days of building takeovers seem like a distant memory, we are still a student body unafraid of questioning the Columbia Administration and its policies, our country and its politics. This makes it all the more necessary that there exist a campus publication that thoughtfully critiques the status quo. In the midst of four controversies last year — MEALAC, ROTC, the Graduate Student Protests, and Manhattanville expansion — it became obvious that there was no campus magazine that could effectively analyze the intricacies of these issues. This was the catalyst for AdHoc.

When creating the first issue of “Columbia University's Progressive Magazine” the one question we constantly grappled with was “What is Progressive?” For us, as well as for “progressives” in the United States, the idea is still not clearly defined. We see the establishment of AdHoc as an opportunity to explore this identity and forge its meaning for the future. It is an active, malleable identity that will be decided by our generation. For us, being progressive means focusing on issues rather than politics, facts rather than rhetoric, and above all giving a voice to those who often do not have one.

We named ourselves AdHoc with this desire to place issues at the center of our discourse. When controversial campus or national issues arise we see ourselves as a necessary forum to analyze what is at stake. At heart we are students who want to create the strongest Columbia possible, and we can only accomplish this through active critique of Columbia, its policies, and ourselves.

The Founders,
Alex and Kristen