correspondent and supporter of the paper's efforts. In June 1980, The Dartmouth Review published its first issue. Distributed to graduating students before the school's annual commencement exercises, it focused on the College's declining academic standards and the controversy surrounding its recent board of trustees elections. In a series of articles that received attention from many Dartmouth alumni, the editors endorsed write-in candidate John Steel and publicized allegations of improprieties amongst the administration-backed Alumni Council. In the months that followed, the paper began printing on a weekly basis and released a revised statement of purpose from editor Dinesh D'Souza. In his words, The Reviews mission was "to become what it was set-up to become: a responsible, bold publication of conservative opinion" and a prodigious source of "unbiased, reliable articles [written] without fear of administrative clamps." Throughout its first few months of activity, the organization and its leaders sought to achieve this greater degree of professionalism by publishing suggested revisions to administrative policy, investigative reports on fraternity controversies, and interviews with notable conservatives like William F. Buckley Jr. It also gained notoriety within some campus circles for its vocal support of Dartmouth's disused Indian mascot and its criticism of affirmative action policies. The 1980s In the spring of 1982, The Review published a series of editorials that disparaged the administration's affirmative action policies and lamented their effects on Dartmouth's academic rigor. Among them was an article that used a combination of Ebonics and heavy satire to mock common excuses for the deficient classroom performance of many black students. This episode, when combined with the paper's ongoing support of school's controversial Indian mascot and its criticism of a black professor's Music 2 class, led many on campus to accuse its editors of racism. Some student groups joined with concerned faculty members and administrators to condemn the editorial stances of the publication and denounce "its particular breed of journalism." During this period, the paper weathered many episodes of controversy and faced down several lawsuits, threats, and instances of vandalism. Despite this hostile reception, however, it continued to build a loyal following among many students and alumni and gained a national reputation for its high-quality writing and energetic style. In its first decade of activity, The Dartmouth Review published several notable articles and led student opposition to a number of the administration's policies. After the paper launched an editorial campaign that used a survey of