Editor’s Note
Our second magazine of the academic year comes to you a bit later than expected, but we hope you agree that this issue’s cover story is well worth the wait. In it, senior staff writers Roxy Bonafont, Emily Lemmerman, and Lucas Rodriguez delve into the past, present, and future of one of Stanford’s most controversial and least understood entities: The Hoover Institution. Through interviews with key figures such as Provost Persis Drell and the institution’s Director, Thomas Gilligan, along with deep dives into university archives and past Hoover features from campus publications like The Daily, this piece aims to highlight recurring patterns in the debate surrounding Hoover while clarifying the institution’s role on our campus.
In addition to our cover story, this issue of Stanford Politics Magazine includes pieces regarding both national and international politics. In “Testing the Peace,” magazine director Nathalie Kiersznowski discusses the potential impact of Brexit on Irish Unification. In his second piece for Stanford Politics, Kyle Wang questions the label “Asian American,” noting that this categorization often fails to represent all Asians. And lastly, in “Rural Engagement,” Thomas Pfeiffer examines the rural student experience at Stanford. The diversity of topics and perspectives present in this issue of our magazine are representative of Stanford Politics’ mission to provide high-quality, well-researched, nonpartisan political journalism to the Stanford community, and we hope you find these stories as crucial and compelling as we did.
I would like to acknowledge all the hard work that has gone into making this issue of the magazine possible — not only from our writers but also our editors and graphic designers. Most importantly, thank you to our readers for reading, sharing, and discussing our work. The success of Stanford Politics, and of high-quality journalism more broadly, depends on you.
Daniela González
Editor in Chief, Stanford Politics
Contents
Testing the Peace
How Brexit Affects the Possibility, and Danger, of Irish Unification
Nathalie Kiersznowski
100 Years of Hoover
A History of Stanford’s Decades-Long Debate over the Hoover Institution
Roxy Bonafont, Emily Lemmerman, & Lucas Rodriguez
Asian America’s Diversity Problem
Kyle Wang
Thinking Beyond ‘The Farm’
Rural Engagement and Stanford Admission
Thomas Pfeiffer
Daniela González, a senior studying computer science and English, is the editor in chief of Stanford Politics.