The Oxy Forum is Occidental’s new student-written and student-run political opinion journal. Oliver Lee* (senior) said he formed The Oxy Forum after returning from working on Ruben Gallego’s Arizona Senate campaign. Lee said his inspiration for starting The Oxy Forum came from his time at The Occidental, as he was really only interested in writing opinion pieces and did not want to write a political opinion each week. The forum closed its first submission window Sept. 22.
According to Caden Slater** (junior), he and others who participated in Campaign Semester felt they were in a political bubble upon their return to Occidental following the Fall 2024 election.
“That was what I think got us all interested […], trying to create a space where people felt comfortable sharing whatever opinion they had and being able to push back on the Oxy status quo of what was politically acceptable,” Slater said. “Free speech is extraordinarily important, especially right now in this country, and being able to have a space specifically in higher education where people feel comfortable expressing that free speech is paramount.”
According to Lee, he believes Occidental students want to hear from their peers and hopes students can begin to share their political opinions in the forum. Lee said students are also able to submit under a pseudonym or anonymously if they have a reasonable concern for backlash against their article. He said he feels the Occidental student body sometimes offers a sense of groupthink, and he hopes The Oxy Forum allows students to share their opinions that may differ from those of their peers.
“It feels like sometimes […] everybody [has] an assumption that everybody has the same kind of ideas about everything,” Lee said. “I think [Occidental] attracts a certain type of person, but not everybody — it’s 2,000 plus people — […] [is] going to be identical.”
Treasurer of The Oxy Forum, Olivia Correia** (senior), said Lee, Slater and herself all had returned from various campaigns Fall 2024 and felt compelled to continue holding discourse about what is happening in the country.
“The idea behind The Oxy Forum is that it’s specifically a political opinion journal magazine that is student-run and is a space for students to talk about their opinions and their thoughts on politics,” Correia said.
Josey Kelley (senior), the outreach coordinator of The Oxy Forum, said they spent Fall 2024 working on Adam Frisch’s campaign in Grand Junction, CO.
“[Campaign Semester] made me realize that there is a certain one-track narrative about how politics is supposed to be done and what is acceptable in politics,” Kelley said. “I think that’s completely unfair, and I think it’s time for newer voices.”
As of Oct. 3, The Oxy Forum has reopened its submission form until Nov. 7. According to Lee, the forum received three submissions during its first submission window, but he hopes it will grow.
“I think part of the reason why [we didn’t get a lot of submissions] is because people are kind of doubting themselves,” Lee said. “They don’t think that they have the level of expertise that is, quote, unquote, ‘required to publish’ something like that, but I think that’s kind of the appeal of it.”
According to Slater, The Oxy Forum’s largest barrier to receiving submissions is finding students passionate enough about their opinions that they would write for the The Oxy Forum for free.
“People are passionate, but I don’t think they necessarily know yet that there is a space where they can express that,” Slater said. “There is a stigma. People are worried that they’ll be judged socially for their political opinions, and that they won’t be accepted.”
Kelley said the e-board hopes to work closely with people who are hesitant to submit, whether that be in terms of writing, judgment from peers or uncertainty as to what to say.
“You 100 percent have something to say,” Kelley said. “You are a part of a dynamic, evolving, one of the largest and most important cities in the world. You absolutely have something to say.”
Slater, who is the social media chair, said he has plans to expand in-person recruiting before expanding The Oxy Forum’s online presence.
“I think […] [our] time would be best suited trying to impassion the student body to write and share, through personal connections,” Slater said. “We were [also] thinking of doing some man-on-the-street type things, getting more short-form vertical content, things like that.”
According to Lee, despite the low number of entries Sept. 22, he still intends to publish an issue this semester. However, Lee said he originally had hopes of publishing twice a semester.
“I was planning on having it be a bi-semesterly thing,” Lee said. “I’ve been talking to a couple organizations that were interested in writing an article under their organizational name.”
Lee said he has no specific desires for submissions but hopes writers are inspired by their classes and life experiences.
“There [are] certain things I think that people would gravitate towards, things that are frequently talked about in today’s landscape, like abortion or immigration or the whole tariffs thing,” Lee said. “It’s a time of political upheaval.”
Slater said he knows everyone at Occidental is a qualified writer and The Oxy Forum is excited to hear student voices.
“We really want to get this thing off the ground, and we need students to [publish],” Slater said. “So, if there’s someone reading this article, please come talk to me, come talk to anybody on the e-board. And write, submit and share your opinions.”
Contact Abigail Montopoli at montopoli@oxy.edu
*Oliver Lee is a former staff writer for The Occidental
**Olivia Correia and Caden Slater are staff writers for The Occidental
