About the Walrus

A Radical Publication for UIUC's Liberal Student Movement

History & Legacy: The "New Left" and Alternative Press

The first issue of the Walrus was published on February 1, 1968. From the beginning, the Walrus staff made clear their liberal agenda and opinions on the current state of things in the United States, including criticism of the university system for reinforcing the nation’s social ills.

In its introductory statement, “Why Wally?”, the Walrus posits itself as a critical voice within the burgeoning student movement:

“The war in Vietnam continues in the face of the greatest protest against American foreign policy in the history of the U.S. From the protest has come an increasing dissatisfaction with the “American Way” and with American society today. The universities have been the target of much of the current dissent. Many students are not realizing that the universities of this country channel young people into institutions and jobs which, instead of correcting the glaring ills of America, simply perpetuate the unjust system to which these students object. They are becoming aware that the university is not simply complicit in the war and discrimination. It is, in fact, an integral part of the machinery and structure which prosecutes the war and continues racial and political discrimination.”

“We of the Walrus are part of a new tendency and understanding of American society, the “New Left” orientation. To those who are critical of our views, we invite you to join us in a serious discussion of this new orientation. The Walrus has been created in order to establish a forum for these discussions. We want people to determine why so many students are enraged about the present state of American society and government, so that our critics will move beyond passing out bars of soap to a discussion of the important issues. We hope to delineate our society’s functions, to whose advantage and disadvantage, and further, how the university fits neatly into the present American “system”. We hope that with this clarification of views, critics of the New Left will begin to focus on the content of our positions.”

The Walrus tackled issues such as the Vietnam war, black liberation, women’s rights, sexual freedom, gay rights, criticisms of the University of Illinois administration, global liberation struggles and colonialism, the local Champaign-Urbana area, and much more. Comics, artwork, poetry, recipes, and book and music reviews were also included.

A couple of controversies during the newspaper’s six-year run, outlined on the UIUC Student Life & Culture Archive’s website, included:

“Controversy erupted between the Walrus and the Print Co-op in 1972 after their refusal to print an issue that contained criticism of the Undergraduate Student Association’s system of collecting voluntary student contributions. The controversial issue was eventually printed by the Rantoul Press, though Walrus used the Andromeda Printing Company for further printing.”

“Administration officials ordered students selling the Walrus in the Commons of the Union to stop, claiming it violated University regulations about solicitation of materials.”

The first issue of the Walrus was printed in the basement of the Red Herring, and many of the issues feature advertisements for the Urbana restaurant.You can still enjoy delicious vegetarian food there today – however, their coffee is sadly no longer 5 cents.

Here are some of the newspaper team’s forms submitted to register as a student organization with the university. They tag themselves as the “Walrus Anarchist Collective” and check the categories of “service” and “political” to describe their organization.