Becoming Salient: Free Speech and the New Rise of a Conservative Campus Magazine at Harvard University

In the fall of 2021, a group of undergraduate students at Harvard University revived The Salient, a self-proclaimed “undergraduate free speech publication” aimed at restoring “free speech, intellectual rigor, and open debate” on campus. First founded in 1981—the year Ronald Reagan took office—the new iteration of The Salient has become a vehicle for conservative and right-wing discourse, publishing primarily pseudonymous short opinion pieces that frequently espouse anti-queer, anti-trans, anti-immigrant, antisemitic, Islamophobic, and white Christian nationalist rhetoric. The publication has been distributed in a controversial manner—door-dropped at every suite in every undergraduate dorm in the shadow of night, sparking debates about the acceptability of forced distribution of political materials in campus housing. This debate escalated in February 2025, when, following a complaint published by Breitbart, Harvard College reversed prior restrictions on the distribution of The Salient and other materials in its dorms and installed door baskets for safe distributions under the justification of protecting “vital and open discourse.”

In this paper, I analyze how The Salient platforms white Christian nationalist thought through pseudonymous writing and wide distribution, reinforcing a reactionary framework of academic and religious freedom that aligns with broader right-wing movements in the United States. Drawing on my experience as a former Harvard residential staff member from 2021–2025, I examine the rise of The Salient from within the university, tracing how it gained influence and institutional support. I am working through an archive of Salient magazines that I have collected since 2021, analyzing how its content evolved in response to shifting national and campus political climates.

This presentation is particularly timely given that Harvard University, located near the host city of this year’s AAR conference, serves as a central site for these debates on free speech, conservative media, and religious nationalism.

The structure of this paper is designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of The Salient's revival at Harvard, examining its role in shaping conservative free speech discourse and its alignment with white Christian nationalism. The introduction sets the stage by tracing the history of The Salient, originally founded in 1981 during Ronald Reagan’s presidency as part of broader conservative efforts to counteract the gains of civil rights, feminist, and LGBTQ+ movements, the paper came under increased scrutiny in the early 2000s due to several controversies surrounding homophobic and Islamophobic content. The paper then moves into the contemporary landscape, analyzing the 2021 revival of the magazine in the context of Trump-era right-wing mobilization, increased conservative focus on higher education as a battleground, and the Harvard administration’s policy shifts in favor of right-wing free speech claims in 2025. 

Following this historical and institutional context, the second section investigates the rhetorical strategies of The Salient, particularly how it frames free speech as a battleground for conservative victimhood and ideological resistance. This section draws connections to white Christian nationalist themes, arguing that The Salient employs free speech rhetoric to legitimize reactionary positions on Christian morality, religious nationalism, and historical revisionism. These themes are explored in greater depth in the third section, which examines how the magazine constructs intellectual legitimacy through the strategic use of classical, theological, and philosophical pseudonyms. This includes citations of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew texts on its back covers, reinforcing a mythos of Western intellectual superiority and Christian civilization under siege.

The fourth section provides a detailed thematic analysis of The Salient’s published content (2021–2025), highlighting how it engages with key conservative and white Christian nationalist narratives. This section categorizes The Salient’s discourse into five major themes:

1. Opposition to LGBTQ+ Rights, including critiques of queer theology and progressive campus initiatives such as Harvard’s Sex Week.
2. Abortion and Christian Morality, where the magazine positions anti-abortion activism as a fundamental Christian duty.
3. Islamophobia and Christian Nationalism, where articles depict Islam as a civilizational threat, particularly in coverage of global conflicts.
4. American Nationalism and Christian Identity, which frames the United States as a divinely ordained Christian nation and criticizes multiculturalism.
5. Academic Freedom and the Right-Wing Persecution Complex, where conservative students are portrayed as victims of an oppressive liberal elite.

The conclusion positions The Salient within the larger movement of right-wing Christian nationalist campus media and activism, emphasizing its dual role as a reactionary response to progressive campus culture and a strategic tool for conservative intellectual recruitment. The paper argues that Harvard’s institutional support for The Salient’s distribution in 2025 reflects a broader complicity in legitimizing right-wing narratives about free speech and conservative victimhood in ongoing debates about academic freedom, religious nationalism, and the intersections of higher education and politics.