The Brown Alumni Magazine (BAM) was founded in 1900, independent of the university, by alumni journalists. We seek to continue that independent tradition by producing a magazine that echoes the spirit of Brown: smart, bold, playful, iconoclastic. The result is a wide mix of subject matter, elevated by newsstand-quality writing and design. Even when we’re doing university news stories, we aim to engage and surprise our readers. You need not look further than the covers of these two issues—a stern portrait of “anti-woke” professor Glenn Loury on one, a casual pose from Pulitzer-winning writer Andrew Sean Greer swathed in red and blue tulle on the other. Our display copy evokes what President Christina Paxson calls Brown’s “constructive irreverence.” Far from the voice of the institution, we’re the voice of your smart, funny, fellow alum—that’s why our readers love and actually read us. Our newsletter open rate averages 51 percent, and alums consistently rate us as their favorite source of news about Brown. We even get pass-along readers. The partner of a Brown alum—who didn’t go to Brown herself—told us she gets multiple alumni magazines in the mail, and they all go straight to recycling. All except the BAM, which she calls “academic Cosmo”—you just can’t stop yourself from reading, she explained. Alumni value the magazine so much that they directly support it: Our fundraising raised $241,000 in 2023, with about 2 percent of readers donating to support the magazine they already get for free.
From the Judges
A beautiful, refined magazine that didn’t shy away from telling substantive, compelling stories in fresh ways. A publication we could enjoy reading even without a connection to the university.
