"Everyone said that there was not enough advertising in the community for two papers," Abram says, "and we proved them wrong."

But Abram also recalls that fundraising was often a difficult task.

One Harvard Law School alumnus spit his food across the table after the Indy asked him for a $200 donation, Abram says.

Today, The Independent's operating costs are covered entirely by advertising revenue, according to its president,, Ellie Grossman' 95.

Grossman says The Independent is still important to fostering campus debate.

"We fill a different niche than The Crimson," she says. "For people who don't subscribe to The Crimson, the Indy can be their only source of news."

But although the Independent is now a weekly fixture at Harvard, its founders never dreamed it would last this long.

Says Abram: "No one would have considered the idea that the Independent would be around in 25 years."