Like most composition courses at large state universities, basic writing classes at the University of Minnesota are primarily taught by graduate teaching students. Graduate students and basic writers share a similar position in the university, sitting on the boundaries of the scholarly communities in which they eventually hope to participate. As professionals entering the conversation in composition, graduate students can offer a unique perspective from their own positions as bridges for basic writers learning to negotiate discourse boundaries. Much of the theory influential to the current understanding of basic writing has focused on the role composition teachers play in helping students make this transition from outsider to insider status as readers, writers, and speakers. In a course for graduate students on the theory and practice of basic writing, all electronic discussions (400 pages worth) were saved and studied to find threads in the conversations which could help to give a better picture of how grad students perceive their roles in the university. The issue of identity was introduced by correspondents early on, as was a sense of the difficulties that basic writers and graduate students face as they try to enter the university. It seems that graduate students and basic writers are asking the same question: To be or not to be an academic writer? (Contains 21 references.) (CR)