| Type | Monthly student magazine |
|---|---|
| Format | Magazine |
| Owner(s) | The Centurion at Rutgers, Inc. |
| Publisher | University Publishing Solutions LLC |
| Editor-in-chief | Aviv Khavich '19 |
| Managing editor | Andrea Vacchiano '19 |
| Founded | 2004 (Restarted in 2017) |
| Political alignment | Conservative/Right-wing |
| Headquarters | New Brunswick, NJ 08901 |
The Centurion is aconservative online magazine focused onRutgers University-New Brunswick campus life.
Its motto is "veritas vos liberabit," which is Latin for "the truth shall set you free." The magazine attempts to counterbalance that which its staff perceive as a predominant orthodoxy ofsocial liberalism andpolitical progressivism of the professors and staff at the university. They believe this is confirmed by documented faculty donations to political candidates in the 2004 presidential election.[1]
The Centurion was founded in September 2004 byJames O'Keefe,[2] a junior philosophy major, after he leftThe Daily Targum. It was co-founded by fellow Rutgers college students Matthew Klimek, Joseph P. Nedick and Mason-Gross art student Justine Mertz.
The Centurion has featured cover stories on Rutgers alumnusPaul Robeson,academic freedom,eminent domain inNew Brunswick, New Jersey, the secret societyCap and Skull, theJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and the Rutgers College Governing Association. Mostly, it focuses on campus fraud and due diligence issues, claiming in its mission statement to be a remedy to "excessive political correctness and corruption at Rutgers." But it has recently taken on national topics. On foreign policy issues, the journal often takes aneoconservative stance. Domestically, it echoespaleoconservative sentiments, often railing againstabortion on demand,gun control andillegal immigration.[citation needed]
The magazine is known for its walk-in video reports.[citation needed] In one video the editors of The Centurion attempted to banLucky Charms from Brower Dining Hall on the grounds the breakfast cereal was "offensive" to Irish-Americans.[3] This was explained by conservative columnist Greg Walker, who took part in the exercise[4] A specifically an ironic reaction to the targeting of sandwich names at the privately ownedGrease Trucks by the RutgersLGBT community. School staff met with those whom complained about the "offensive" breakfast cereal as a matter of requirement to follow up on all complaints, no further action was taken on the matter.
TheCenturion is a member of theCollegiate Network. Although officially recognized by Rutgers,[5] The Centurion incorporated as a New Jersey501(c)(3) for liability and financial reasons,[citation needed] and maintains a board of directors.
TheCenturion was restarted by student Aviv Khavich in 2017. Khavich was a former columnist forThe Daily Targum. It maintained an online presence through October 2018 before ceasing activity.
The Centurion held counterprotests and has held anaffirmative action bake sale four times. It prints specific names and pictures of "liberal" students in its issues fromFacebook. In a matter subject to privacy implications, the paper has printed names of students who have "liberal" adornments on their dormitory doors. The magazine's inaugural headline was "Conservatives Launch Publication at Rutgers: Intolerant Diversity-Haters Promote Fanatical Agenda."[6] Since then it has had suchtongue-in-cheek headlines as "Mayor of New Orleans doesn't care about Black People" afterHurricane Katrina and "Abandon all Hope Ye Who Enter Here,"[7] over the campus gate; a spin-off of one of the cantons in theDivine Comedy and one of the covers for theNational Review.
The magazine gives sarcastic "awards" to faculty and students for holding views which the staff of theCenturion consider "liberal". One such award, for "Liberal of the Month," was given to English department professor Richard Dienst. The editors printed a private letter from Professor Dienst to the Dean of Rutgers College requesting that "disciplinary action" be taken against O'Keefe and Mertz. This occurred after they confronted Professor Dienst with a video camera and asked him if he believed in theUnited States Constitution, since he supposedly told a dissenting Republican student "You have no first amendment rights."[8] After the editors obtained the disciplinary letter, they printed it on page 18 of the October 2005 issue.[9] In another instance the editors presented a certificate bearing the "Centurion Award" to a history professor with the most pro-Democrat posters adorning his office door.
In late July, former editor in chief and founder James O'Keefe along with board member David Maxham set out to have the American flag hung up in every classroom at Rutgers. After approaching several deans, including Co-Vice Chair Brian Rose, the boys were told such an act would be "problematic" and that hanging up the American flag would give argument to others who would intend to adorn classrooms with their own symbols. Unsatisfied with the response, the students created a video,[10] which caught the attention of theJersey Guys on101.5 FM. The issue was discussed asCenturion members Daniel Francisco and David Maxham fielded questions live on air on July 31, 2006. The radio show hosts shared the views of the students and pledged to help theCenturion on the issue.[11]
The third issue of the magazine depicted well-known Rutgers alumnusPaul Robeson and criticized his sympathy and support for the formerSoviet Union.[citation needed] Robeson, aLenin Peace Prize winner, has thePaul Robeson Cultural Center in New Brunswick as well as the Paul Robeson Library on the Camden campus named in his honor (in 2010 the College Republicans chapter at the Camden campus unsuccessfully called for the library to be renamed).[12][13]
The magazine often points out that economistMilton Friedman, Rutgers '32, a winner of theNobel Prize in Economics, and very influential inChicago school of economics,[14] has no facility named after him.
The March 2006 issue featured theinfamous Danish cartoon depictingMuhammad.[citation needed]
