Last year, YC senior Avi Cooper co-founded and was editor-in-chief of The Spectrum, a new magazine devoted to Jewish student life. This year he is head editor once again, joined by David Stein and Tkiva Hecht.
Full disclosure; when the magazine was first announced, I ran an op-ed about it in The Commentator that was very critical of the idea.
I promised to Cooper privately that if the magazine took off, I’d make a public apology. Consider this interview that apology.

Tell me about The Spectrum. What provided the impetus to start it, and how are you involved with it?
Last year, Shuey Jacoby approached me about a vision he had for a magazine made by YU students written in a language that Jewish students from any university could enjoy. Last year I served as the editor in chief.

And the first issue came out last year. What kind of response did you get to it? Where do you feel it succeeded, and where did it fail to meet your expectations?
For the most part we received positive feedback. There was some criticism that it was too centrist, not taking a strong enough stance to the right or left. But, honestly, I think true journalism is as unbiased as possible, and my vision of the magazine was a balanced one. So in that sense I think we succeeded.
We wanted to make a magazine that touched on multiple topics and dealt in multiple areas that would entertain and enlighten. I think we did a good job of that. Hopefully this year it will be even more eclectic.

What do you have planned for this year?
We’re starting up the second issue now, convening an editorial board, holding recruitment meetings, putting the story list together. We’re going to try to get another celebrity interview also.

You interviewed Elon Gold from the television show “Stacked” last issue. Who do you hope for now?
Well, we’re going to try for someone involved in Hollywood, possibly David Mamet, but there is really no way to know at this point. Hopefully we will get someone captivating.

Finally, if there was one thing you could hope that publishing the Spectrum could accomplish — what would it be?
I would hope that anyone who reads it gains a greater appreciation for the creative process…the importance of expressing oneself creatively.