A Brief Look at Our History

U.S. President Ronald Reagan and U.K. Premier Margaret Thatcher at the White House in 1982
(photo courtesy of Flickr/Levan Ramishvili)

Founded by Yoram Hazony ’86 – Israeli philosopher, biblical scholar, and the current president of the Jerusalem-based Herzl Institute – The Princeton Tory is a right-of-center student-run journal of political thought. Our first issue appeared in October of 1984, at the height of the conservative movement in the 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was U.S. President and Margaret Thatcher was the U.K.’s Prime Minister.

Yoram Hazony, founder of The Princeton Tory
(photo courtesy of @yhazony on Twitter)

The magazine has been a mainstay on the Princeton publication scene ever since. Our content is published online and in print.

The Tory has garnered national media attention recently with Danielle Shapiro’s 2022 Wall Street Journal piece titled “I Committed Journalism, and Princeton Told Me Not to Communicate,” and Jeff Zymeri’s 2019 piece titled “U. Debating Society Whig-Clio Struggles to Grapple with Internal Dissension, Charges of Anti-Conservative Bias.”

Some famous Tory alumni include Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp ’89, Senator Ted Cruz ’92 (R-TX), and Fox News Channel contributor Pete Hegseth ’03. Four editors have gone on to become Rhodes scholars.

Donate to the Tory here and subscribe here.

Notable Tory Alumni

• Yoram Hazony, Class of 1986. Founder of the Shalem Center.
• Daniel Polisar, Class of 1987. Founder of Shalem College, President of the Shalem Center.
• Wendy Kopp, Class of 1989. Founder, Teach for America.
• Ted Cruz, Class of 1992. Texas Senator, former Solicitor General of Texas.
• Pete Hegseth, Class of 2003. United States Congressional candidate, CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, Co-host of FOX News Channel’s FOX & Friends Weekend.
• Evan Baehr, Class of 2005. Cofounder, Outbox Inc.