Polis Student Committee member Sherman Criner wrote for the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal on why he co-founded The Lemur, a free-speech magazine at Duke. Frustrated by what he sees as performative institutional efforts toward civil discourse, Criner created The Lemur to offer a genuine space for open debate and ideological diversity. “The best ideas should outcompete the bad ones,” he writes, emphasizing that real intellectual engagement requires more than guest lectures and glossy initiatives. The magazine hosts bipartisan roundtables, a great books seminar, and its signature Uncommon Ground series pairing students from across the political spectrum in civil conversation. Criner praised Professor and POLIS Director Abdullah Antepli for his “unwavering commitment to intellectual diversity,” noting his support of The Lemur and efforts to ensure conservative voices have a platform on campus.
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