page_title: Oregon Commentator
section_title: Controversies
hierarchical_section_title: Oregon Commentator / Controversies
caption_attribution_description: English: By the Barrel: 25 Years of the Oregon Commentator on display at the University of Oregon Bookstore.
context_page_description: The Oregon Commentator was a student publication at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded on September 27, 1983, and first published on October 24, 1983, it was a self-described "conservative journal of opinion," modeled after such publications as Harvard Lampoon, The Onion and Reason Magazine. The magazine's official ideological stance was conservative, although many of the ideas and values it promoted might be better described as libertarian.
  The Commentator served as an independent journal of opinion for the campus community and provided students with an alternative to the predominant viewpoints of professors, student groups and other student publications. The magazine officially ceased operations at the culmination of the 2014 - 2015 academic year.
context_section_description: Since its inception, there were several attempts to shut down the magazine's operations. In 2004, the program lost its funding after satirizing a prominent transgender student. Its funding was restored soon after the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education became involved.
  In 2006, then Editor in Chief Tyler Graf appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to defend the First Amendment rights of The Student Insurgent, a rival student publication. The Insurgent had received national attention after publishing controversial illustrations of Jesus Christ. Jethro Higgins, who was part of the opposition on campus hoping to shut down The Student Insurgent, also appeared on the program.
caption: By the Barrel:25 Years of the Oregon Commentator on display at the University of Oregon Bookstore
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