Douglas McIntyre ’77, vice chair of the Advocate’s Board of Trustees, says that the campus used to be dominated by three publications, the Lampoon, The Crimson and the Advocate. He called the relationship between the three a “friendly rivalry.”
The Advocate used to publish weekly, according to McIntyre. In the past few years, though, the Advocate has struggled to meet its quarterly publication schedule—causing drops in advertising revenues.
In 1981, rumors abounded that the Advocate would have to close after the organization ran up large publishing debts and had to be bailed out by the trustees several times, prompting an IRS investigation. Financial problems became so severe that phone service was cut off to 21 South St. repeatedly.
Then President Lynne Murphy ’83 blamed the financial problems on the weakness of the business board and the limited appeal of the Advocate’s content, which kept circulation numbers low in comparison to other student publications.
“Most people who come to the Advocate are shy about selling ads or dealing with money...we don’t attract business types,” Murphy told The Crimson in a 1982 interview.
Nevertheless, strong leadership, enforced membership dues and trustee bailouts were able to get the organization back on its feet in the 1980s.
In December of 1996, on the eve of its 130th anniversary, the Advocate found itself in deep financial trouble once again. The organization owed several thousand dollars to its printer, its building was in need of renovation and it faced an impending battle with the University over the land that is the site of its building.
The magazine was threatened with displacement as the College considered building additional undergraduate housing on South Street.
At the time, the building required an estimated $60,000 in repairs. The trustees were able to raise $50,000 from prominent alums, including Begley, Robert Bly ’50, Norman K. Mailer ’43, Conan C. O’Brien ’85 and Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. ’38. Steven A. Ballmer ’77 matched that sum to bring the total to $100,000.
The trustees used this money to pay the printing debts and to fund repairs to the building’s heating and plumbing systems. They withheld the rest of the money until they could ensure that the building would remain in the group’s possession.
In 1997, the Advocate requested a 50-year lease with Harvard. Though the University would not agree to that deal, the two parties instead settled on a 15-year lease, expiring in 2011, for an agreed $1-per-year fee.
GOOD TIMES AHEAD?
Once the Advocate undergoes the renovations that the College has requested, the College will likely offer the organization a long-term lease for the South Street property, McLoughlin says.
“As we approach the Advocate to make repairs, we couldn’t do that in hopes of removing [the building] in seven years,” McLoughlin says.
Morrison says she thinks the only reason the Advocate has come under recent scrutiny is the arrival of McLoughlin, who was appointed assistant dean of the College in October.
