Vikse articulates conservative vision

Photo by Ben Amster

Asheesh Siddique '07 (l.), who has organized filibusters and appeared on television, is the former co-editor of the Princeton Progressive Nation. Juliann Vikse '08, a conservative who prefers friendly debates over divisive arguments, is the publisher of the Princeton Tory.

Juliann Vikse '08 didn't come out of the closet until several weeks into her freshman year. On what is often seen as a predominantly left-of-center campus, she needed time to gather courage before displaying her College Republican posters and sporting her Bush pins and displayin.

Now the publisher of the Princeton Tory, she has become what former Princeton Tory publisher Ira Leeds '06 called "the model conservative."

Soft-spoken and terrified of interviews — she avoided summer internship applications that required them — Vikse is not the blunt, polarizing conservative usually associated with the Tory.

"I've heard several conservatives make bold, provocative comments in politically heterogeneous groups, and I have cringed in response," Vikse wrote in the Oct. 2004 Tory. "These kinds of comments only serve to infuriate and affront the opposition — I find it hard to understand why individuals from either end of the political spectrum make them."

Instead, Vike tries to shy away from divisive statements, preferring a friendly debate to a heated argument.

"I'm not gonna do the 'oh, everyone's liberal and against us'," Vikse said in an interview yesterday. "I don't think I have opponents. I don't see it that way."

And in her time as publisher, she hopes to bring that same attitude to her publication.

Though she acknowledges that many students hate the Tory "just because it is very aggressive and very in-your-face," she would like the magazine to increase political conversation on campus.

"I hope to spark debate on campus [and] give our alumni and people who subscribe to our magazine an idea about the political climate on campus," she said. "Just contributing viewpoints that are pretty rarely expressed on campus I think is really healthy for the general political debate."

Despite her position as one of the most visible conservatives on campus, Vikse, who says she became politically aware in high school, does not unconditionally adhere to Republican beliefs.

Coming from a politically diverse family, she grew up in the presence of both traditional political viewpoints. "That definitely played a part in shaping my values and political beliefs," Vikse said.

"I don't just refer to a general ideology and to the Republican party," she said. "I try to approach each issue individually and from a neutral standpoint; if a liberal position makes sense, I won't reject it based on partisanship. That being said, I generally agree with conservative positions."

In addition to her Tory responsibilities, Vikse chaired the Princeton Model UN Commission on the status of women, which addressed AIDS and its disproportionate effect on women. Vikse was in charge of drawing up a background guide on the topic, which high school students used to form their policies on the issues.

The female perspective is useful on the Tory as well, her colleagues say.

"Juliann breaks the mold in a pretty significant way in that she is one of the first, in a while, female publishers," Tory editor-in-chief Christian Sahner '07 said.

"Quite clearly ... a lot of girls in Princeton do agree with some of the things that are published in the Tory. Juliann is representative of a much larger group on campus and I look forward to seeing that turn into higher [Tory] participation also," he added.

But Vikse's main role in the upcoming year will be simple: getting ideas into circulation.

"Students should be aware of what's going on around them, the changes that are being made on campus," she said. "This is a great time for debate."

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