The Stanford Review
The Stanford Review is a right-leaning student-run newspaper that serves Stanford University in Stanford, California. It was founded in 1987 by Peter Thiel and Norman Book.
History
In 1987, after around 500 students participated in a march led by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition, the students were inspired to put forth the Rainbow Agenda, a list of the concerns that the minority students wanted the institution to address. The Stanford Review was founded to provide an "alternative viewpoint" to what was expressed in the Agenda, by the "vocal few" as they were referred to in the publication's first issue, dated June 9, 1987, in an article titled "Stanford Review is here to stay." The founders felt that views being expressed were inconsistent with views held by majority of the student body. It aspired to be a place where "rational debate" could exist at the university.In 1995, the paper prevailed in a free-speech lawsuit against the university's speech code. The court ruled that the code which banned insults that were racially and/or gender-motivated was unconstitutional. In a 2016 letter to the editor of The Stanford Daily, the managing editor wrote that "the entire purpose of The Review is to publish unpopular views."
The letter also clarified that although the newspaper serves as an outlet for writers, whether they are a staff writer or otherwise, The Review itself may or may not have a position on the subject matter.
Incorporated in 1990 as nonprofit 501(c)(3), as of 2017, a large portion of the publication's revenue was generated by fundraising efforts and alumni donors. While Thiel also has made financial contributions, he has hosted staff reunions at his home, and meets with the editors quarterly as a way to stay current with campus activities in general.
In 2024, the Review accused Stanford math education professor Jo Boaler of "shoddy research" and de-tracking students with a "dumbed-down math curriculum" of "woke math" and "harassing scholars who take issue with her".
Notable former editors and staff
- Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, Founders Fund, Palantir Technologies
- Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine, economics, and health research policy at Stanford University and 18th director of the National Institutes of Health.
- Paula M. Stannard, Director of the Office for Civil Rights at U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Norman Book, former PayPal employer, co-founder of publishing house World Ahead Media, later managing position at Palo Alto Networks.
- Keith Rabois, chief operating officer of Square, investor at Khosla Ventures.
- Nathan Linn, former CFO at Valar Ventures, former VP of finance at Clarium Capital, partner and COO at Level Equity Management.
- David O. Sacks, co-founder of Yammer, angel investor; White House AI and Crypto Czar, Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
- Ryan Bounds, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Oregon and failed nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Adam Ross, former board member at Palantir Technologies, founding partner at Goldcrest Capital.
- Aman Verjee, co-founder and partner at Practical Venture Capital.
- Stephen Russell, founder of Prism Skylabs, early investor in Uber.
- Lucas Mast, co-founder of the magazine American Thunder.
- Jeff Giesea, political activist and writer, co-organizer of MAGA3X, the organization behind DeploraBall.
- Ken Howery, co-founder of PayPal, Founders Fund; United States Ambassador to Sweden.
- Candice Jackson, Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights under Secretary Betsy DeVos
- Eric Jackson, co-founder of World Ahead Media, chief executive officer of CapLinked
- Gideon Yu, co-owner and former president of the San Francisco 49ers, former chief financial officer of YouTube and Facebook
- Premal Shah, member of the PayPal Mafia, co-founder of Kiva.
- Kevin Harrington, former managing director of Thiel Macro LLC, current senior director for strategic planning at the U.S. National Security Council.
- Josh Hawley, United States senator representing the state of Missouri
- Bob McGrew, former PayPal engineer, former director of engineering at Palantir, former chief research officer at OpenAI.
- Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of Palantir Technologies
- Stephen Cohen, co-founder of Palantir Technologies
- Alex Moore, Palantir's first employee and board member; partner at former Eight Partners LLC.
- Tristan Abbey, former Clarium Capital and Founders Fund employee, currently 11th administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
- Tayler Cox, now Tayler Lonsdale, wife of Joe Lonsdale, former Palantir employee, co-founder of the conservative think-tank Cicero Institute. She is also the secretary and treasurer of the board of United States Common Sense, a policy organization that advocates for government transparency.
- Jeremy England, physicist and Orthodox rabbi.
- Autumn Carter, executive director of the non-partisan think tank California Common Sense.
- Lisa Wallace, former Palantir employee, co-founder and co-CEO of the compensation management platform startup Assemble, later acquired by Deel.
- Anthony Ghosn, Carlos Ghosn's son, former Formation 8 and 8VC employee, co-founder of Shogun Investments.
- Harry Elliott, partner at General Catalyst.
- Maxwell Meyer, founding editor-in-chief and publisher of the Arena magazine.
- Mimi St Johns, former Thiel Capital intern, founder of the crypto startup Verbum Labs.
- Bruce Gibney, former Clarium Capital employee and partner at Founders Fund, author. He was also Howery's roommate at Stanford and an early investor in Confinity.