Cutler Publications is a legally independent not-for-profit. Our principal aim is to foster responsible, high-quality student journalism at Colorado College.

Our History

Cutler Publications was founded in 1969 in response to a crisis. The weekly student newspaper then called the Tiger, reported on a college symposium on violence by printing a large photo of an obscenity next to a photo of a police officer beating a protester. The caption asked the reader to answer which of the two images was truly obscene.

After publication, administrators and trustees interrogated the Editor-in-Chief of the Tiger. Some suggested that CC’s administration should have editorial control over student publications.

Ruth Barton, an English professor at Colorado College who also had a degree in journalism, was furious that administrators and trustees were attempting to influence, much less control, student publications. In the wake of the crisis, Barton founded Cutler Publications—a legally independent non-profit—to protect student publications from external influences. Barton was also instrumental in the creation of CC’s Writing Center and Journalism Minor.

In its half-century of existence since, Cutler Publications has overseen and advised many student-run publications, many of which have since been discontinued. Among the publications were a yearbook called The Nugget, a journal of political commentary called The Disparaging Eye, a journal of scholarly student writing called The Critique, and even a satirical magazine called The Misdemeanor. Today, Cutler oversees The Catalyst, a weekly newspaper; Cipher, a bi-monthly long-form magazine; The Leviathan, a journal of literary and visual arts; and Anamnesis, a philosophy journal.