After years of serving as Gordon’s student run, alternative publication, the Gordon Review’s staff have decided to bring their work to an end this year.
In a recent statement by Giovanna Johnson, the Review’s last editor-in-chief, she states, “After four very fruitful years of offering students a platform from which to share truth and promote the historical mission of Gordon College, it is with heavy hearts that we share, following prayerful consideration: As of this fall, we plan on suspending the publication indefinitely and will no longer be publishing.”
The Gordon Review first began in 2021, during an arguably politically charged time. After the effects of George Floyd and Covid-19 in 2020, political tensions across the US were at an all time high. Students were searching for a place to share their opinions, especially Gordon students. That’s when Liam Siegler, along with dozens of his peers, decided to start the Gordon Review: a literary publication on campus that covered many topics such as faith, theology, culture, student life, art, and general student opinion pieces.
Siegler, who graduated in 2023, was the founder of the Gordon Review and their first editor-in-chief.
“I was starting to see a need for a publication that encouraged a diversity of conservative viewpoints in a way that I didn’t feel like The Tartan could at the time”, Siegler explained in a 2024 interview.
While The Tartan had existed for decades prior to the Gordon Review, many students during this tumultuous time felt that there was a gap in Gordon student publications that catered to faith based, conservative beliefs. So, the Gordon Review was created to serve this purpose and encourage an open and healthy conversation among students.
Siegler explained that for Gordon specifically, a publication like this is extremely important to have. “We believe[d] that Gordon College as a historic Christian institution on the North Shore holds an important place being in one of the most secular areas of the country, and that because of that, the Christian witness and the school’s fidelity to scripture mattered a lot to us.”
Since the start of the Gordon Review, the publication has evolved immensely. What started out of necessity in a time where tensions were high, has morphed into a publication more based on faith and biblical commentary. While the publication may have a different mission statement in 2025 than from when they were first founded, the Gordon Review has remained rooted in its faith and biblical values up until its final publication this past Spring semester.
As the Gordon Review’s most recent editor-in-chief, Giovanna Johnson continues to be optimistic and is “extremely grateful for all of the members of the Gordon community who made this publication possible.”
Both Johson and Siegler have made it clear that this current situation does not necessarily mean that the Gordon Review has to stay closed forever. Siegler recently shared in a statement that, “Although we are suspending the publication for the remainder of this semester, we will leave the door open for any student who has a passion and vision for the Gordon Review to potentially relaunch it in the future.”
An archive of the Gordon Review and its articles are currently available on their website and will remain available to all students.
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