Any number of alumni have emailed me about the general marginal crankiness of the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, which organization has figured prominently to the point of silliness in the Alito confirmation hearings. One email in particular (with identifying details modified and editorial annotations added) sheds some useful light on the CAP circa 1981-83, a couple of years before Sam Alito referred to it on his resume, and right in the middle of the period cited by Ted Kennedy yesterday.
[My wife] and I have been comparing memories of C.A.P. from 25 years ago, and I figured that I would add them to yours. [She] wrote for Prospect. They PAID!!! And she went through the try-outs for the University Press Club and they had no problems with her writing. [The University Press Club was a selective group of students who were paid stringers for major papers and wire services, in today’s argot the “mainstream media.” During my day it included several students who are now very well-known journalists, including New Yorker editor David Remnick, Todd Purdum, until recently with the New York Times, Marc Fischer of the Washington Post, and others. - ed.] She was specifically told at the end of the process that since she was known to be conservative politically they would not accept her — Republicans and “anti-commmunistas” need not apply. This was specifically not based on any of the articles she wrote for the try-outs, but on the surmise that her writings might show a conservative slant in the future. She was bummed at the time because she could have used the income! [TigerHawk was also rejected by the University Press Club — I still remember the glum look on David Remnick’s face when he delivered the news. However, I did not hear that my political views were on the table — my rejection appears to have been on the merits… - ed.]