5. Censorship of College Student Newspapers
5(a) Administrative Censorship of the College Press
Although most of the attention about the college press focuses on the common problem of newspaper trashings, administrative censorship often poses the greatest threat to campus publications:
Governors State University: Jeni Porche and Margaret Hosty, editors of the Innovator student newspaper, have sued Governors State University, accusing university officials of tampering with their mail, locking them out of their office, replacing a computer without consent and calling the paper's printer to demand prior review of the paper. The Oct. 31, 2000 issue included an article about a grievance filed by Innovator’s faculty advisor who had been dismissed. GSU president Stuart Fagan declared that the editors "failed to meet basic journalistic standards." The administration ordered the printer not to print any further issues of the Innovator until an administrator had read over the issue in advance to ensure it met “journalistic standards.” Since that date, the Innovator has not been published. In response to the lawsuit, Governors State University asserts that the 1988 Hazelwood high school newspaper case gives the administration near-total authority to control a college newspaper.(Student Press Law Center, 3/30/01)
Florida A & M University: The administration in 2002 finally allowed the distribution of the 2000-01 Rattler yearbook, despite concerns about the title, color of the cover, grammatical errors, and missing photo captions. However, some suspect that the administration objected to Holly McGee’s editor’s note: "To the sneaky, back-handed and disrespectful person who simply moved more than $10,000 from the yearbook budget without so much as a 'by your leave,' you should be ashamed of yourself. What gave you the right to cheat both the yearbook staff and the students of this institution?" (Yearbook victory, 2002) The university initially said that it would not purchase stickers to be placed over the 15 grammatical errors Lewis found, but offered to pay yearbook staff members to apply them to about 1,000 copies. The cost to make the stickers is $ 2,000. Armed with a list of rights provided by the Student Press Law Center, Hayes worked toward a solution after a meeting with administrators on Jan. 30. Administrators agreed to foot the bill for the stickers. After the stickers are placed on the corrections, yearbook distribution will follow.
James Madison University: the administration decided not to cut funding of The Breeze by 8%, despite a member of the board of visitors who objected to an insert in the paper for not being a “positive representation" of the university.(Student Press Law Center, 6/18/01)
At the University of Northern Colorado in June 2001, the board of trustees voted to approve a student government recommendation to eliminate all funding for the Mirror as part of a reduction in student fees. The newspaper claimed that it was being targeted for running editorials critical of student government.(Student Press Law Center, 6/13/01)
May, 2001: West Chester University: three staff members of the Quad were charged with disorderly conduct, academic misconduct, dishonesty and failure to comply. The staffer investigated a tip that students could register early by changing one character in the online system’s web address. Although they informed university officials about the flaw and claim that they registered only to test the system and later removed the classes, they were given the same punishment as other students who used the flaw to register early: placed on disciplinary probation, required to write a three-page paper, and forced to re-register for classes in the fall. The administration said they hoped that punishment taught the student journalists a lesson about "responsible newsgathering techniques." In addition, 5,000 copies of the issue discussing possible penalties for the incident were stolen.(Student Press Law Center, 6/4/01)
April, 2001: Texas Tech University’s School of Medicine expelled a medical student for writing editorials in the student newspaper critical of the administration, including an article criticizing the county medical examiner’s conduct during an autopsy.(Academe, July/August 2002)
Feb. 23, 2001. Portland State University officials padlocked the door of The Rearguard, an alternative student publication, after discovering the paper had decided to pursue an investigative story involving a box of six-year-old university confidential files labeled "to be destroyed" that an unknown individual had left in front of the publication's office. Campus police followed the editor around campus for two hours and threatened to arrest him until he agreed to turn over the box.(Student Press Law Center, 3/7/01)
Spring, 2000: President Arnold Speert of William Paterson University threatened to no longer recognize The Beacon as the student newspaper because a May satire edition, The Bacon, was racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semetic and "antithetical to the values that are at the heart of this University." Speert said the administration would no longer advertise with the paper or grant interviews to its reporters, and might try to discourage other advertisers.(SPLC, Fall, 2000)
Feb. 13, 2000: The Hudson Valley Community College's Hudsonian staff was locked out of their office for eight days after publishing a full-page help wanted ad from a strip club showing a woman in a bikini. Editor Tony Gray said that the administration has "vociferously objected to editorials and news coverage for the last semester and are trying to use this for justifying shutting down the paper," but reached a compromise banning future ads in order to reopen the newspaper.
5(b) Anonymous Publications
Oct., 2001: Georgetown University: Administrators enacted a new policy saying anonymous publications that "target identifiable individual members of the university community may be taken from public distribution places by the Vice President." An anonymous satirical newspaper in the spring criticized some university officials.(Student Press Law Center, 10/30/01)
Oct., 2001: Christendom College: junior Michael Marschner-Coyne was suspended for the remainder of the fall semester in 2001 after he published an anonymous newsletter following Sept. 11 that criticized a group of students and faculty (nicknamed “the monarchists” for their study of Aristotle and his critiques of democracy) for being “plagued with several obnoxious political views, such as: America is evil, and a Catholic King is what the world needs now.” A Disciplinary Board unanimously ordered Marschner-Coyne’s suspension because of a) his lack of repentance; b) he was reprimanded for an earlier newsletter attacking the organization; c) lying directly to the Dean of Student Life about his involvement in the newsletter.
Christendom College declared about Marschner-Coyne’s accusations, “If the accusations were true, then the speakers would have been at least strongly reprimanded by the College for the patently evil and utterly obnoxious nature of their remarks. If the accusations were false, the accuser would face disciplinary proceedings due to the fact there is no free-speech value in anonymous, false, and defamatory statements, and such statements are particularly pernicious in a small, close-knit community such as Christendom College.”
(“Statement from Christendom College Regarding Michael Marschner-Coyne’s suspension,” 2001; New York Post, )
ANALYSIS: Academic freedom must protect the liberty of students and faculty to make statements, even when they are deemed “evil” and “utterly obnoxious.” It is untrue that anonymous, false, and defamatory statements have “no free-speech value,” although they are given less weight. Students are entitled to have opinions about student groups on campus, even if these opinions may be inaccurate. They are also entitled to produce student publications expressing these opinions. The question is whether anonymous publications are permitted; if they are, then punishing students for lying about their involvement would defeat the whole purpose of anonymity. Marschner-Coyne only lied about his involvement and created an anonymous newsletter because he had been reprimanded earlier for producing a newsletter. If Christendom College protected the freedom of the press, no anonymity would have been needed. A genuinely defamatory publication (which has not been proven in this case) can be dealt with through existing libel law; it does not require the involvement of a college and its disciplinary process.
5(c) Threats to Faculty Advisers
Perhaps the most vulnerable faculty job in academia is the faculty adviser to a student publication. Non-tenure-track faculty who advise college newspapers frequently bear the brunt of administrative anger, even though advisers at public colleges cannot constitutionally demand prior review, and legal precedents establish that a university becomes liable for defamation in a student newspaper only if it control the publication.
Mount St. Mary’s College: William Lawbaugh, a professor at Mount St. Mary's College and faculty adviser to the Mountain Echo, on Oct. 3, 2001 finally received a $3,800 pay raise awarded to the rest of the faculty in early 2000. Lawbaugh had refused to review the paper's content and screen “juicy stories” before it goes to press. However, administrators are also hiring a consultant to investigate Lawbaugh and enforce new sanctions that demand "appropriate respect and loyalty to Mount St. Mary's College" in the paper.(Student Press Law Center, 10/4/01) Mount St. Mary's President George R. Houston Jr. said Lawbaugh’s punishment was for "mismanagement" because Lawbaugh allowed student editors to use advertising revenue to fund staff salaries, which administrators claim is a violation of school policy. However, College Media Advisers voted in August, 2001 to censure Mount St. Mary's after determining in an investigation that the real cause was Lawbaugh's refusal to review the content of the paper, which is sometimes seen as offensive and sexually explicit by some Mount alumni. Houston wrote on Sept. 1, 2001 that "Mount St. Mary's College does not agree with your organization's belief that 'student media must be free from all forms of external interference designed to regulate content.'"
Columbia College: Jim Sulski, a professor at Columbia College in Chicago and faculty advisor to the Columbia Chronicle, lost his advisor job in May, 2001 for allowing the paper's editors to run an anonymous letter on May 14 that attacked Zafra Lerman, director of the Institute for Science Education and Science Communication. Editors admitted they made a mistake, but defended Sulski, who was finally reinstated as advisor in September, 2001.(Student Press Law Center, 9/21/01, 6/14/01)
Central Missouri State University: Muleskinner faculty advisor Barbara Lach-Smith sued Central Missouri State in June 2000, claiming the university did not renew her contract in June 2000 because she refused to do prior review of the newspaper. Shortly after stories revealed the generous contract for the outgoing president (which prompted a state audit), Lach-Smith’s job was reclassified, and she was not even interviewed for the new position.(Student Press Law Center, 5/24/01)
University of Texas at Tyler: after dismissing a faculty advisor who encouraged students to pursue investigative reporting, the administration reconsidered the decision after protests by journalism organizations. The advisor was rehired and a Student Media Advisory Board established to protect freedom of the press.
(Academe, July/August 2002)
5(d) Newspaper Trashings
The entire list of newspaper trashings reported by the Student Press Law Center (www.splc.org) for 2001 and 2002:
April 25, 2002: Texas Christian University: 1,000 copies of the Daily Skiff were thrown into trash bins, probably because of a front-page story about a fraternity being investigated for hazing.
April 19, 2002: Linfield College: 700 copies of the Linfield Review were dumped into recycling bins by a resident adviser and her friend because of a story about a local district attorney's decision not to prosecute a campus worker for sexual assault.
April 17, 2002: University of Maryland at College Park: 3,900 copies of the Diamondback were stolen because of coverage and endorsements in the upcoming student government elections.
April 3, 2002: The College of New Jersey in Ewing: nearly 1,000 copies of an April Fool’s issue of the Signal were stolen.
April 3, 2002: University of North Florida: 1,600 out of 2,000 copies of The Spinnaker were stolen because an article exposed a track team runner who competed under a teammate's name.
March 14, 2002: University of Central Oklahoma: nearly 4,000 of 5,000 copies of The Vista were stolen because of an article about two former football players facing trial for posting sexually explicit photos of a female student on the Internet.
March 13, 2002: University of Alabama: 2,200 out of 15,000 copies of the Crimson White were stolen because of a controversial student government-related story. About 2,200 copies of the March 8, 2002 issue were also stolen because they included student government endorsements.
Feb. 28, 2002: Temple University: 9,000 copies of the Temple News were taken on both Feb. 21 and Feb. 28 by a freshman caught in video surveillance tapes who was featured in the papers for her upcoming mail fraud trial.(SPLC, 3/5/02)
Feb. 28, 2002: Emporia State University: About 800 copies of The Bulletin were taken and shredded at a dorm, where they were left with a note stating "This is a TEST! This paper is the same crap you read in The Bulletin! Do your part to recycle! Join us!" A student took credit for the “protest” reportedly because he was “against the concept of what the whole paper stood for.”(SPLC, 3/1/02, 3/22/02)
Feb. 26, 2002: University of
Missouri at Columbia: 5,400 copies of The
Maneater were taken, possibly
because of a report on a gang rape going to trial that occurred four year
earlier.(SPLC, 3/1/02)
Feb. 26, 2002: 3,000 copies of the California Patriot were stolen at the University of California at Berkeley, reportedly because of an article attacking a Mexican-American student group.(Calif. Universities, 2002)
Feb. 25, 2002: American University: The Eagle found 1,500 out of 6,000 copies missing after announcing its student council endorsements in its Feb. 25 issue.(SPLC, 3/1/02)
Feb 22, 2002: 2,200 copies out of a 9,600-copy press run of the Daily Trojan at UCLA were stolen due to an article about a public debate between candidates running for student government president.(Daily Trojan, 2/25/02)
Feb. 11, 2002: nearly all 10,000 copies of the Long Beach Union were taken at California State University at Long Beach because of an opinion piece that ridiculed the members of campus fraternity Sigma Pi and described its secret handshake.(Calif. Universities, 2002)
Feb. 2002: University of Rhode Island: Administrators, which review the student newspaper before publication, refused to allow an opinion article to be printed in the Hawk’s Eye about the schools unofficial nickname ("Rich, White Underachievers") because they considered it unbalanced and bad PR.(SPLC, May 10, 2002)
Fall, 2001: Vanderbilt University: The Vanderbilt Torch received threats to the writer of an editorial against need-based financial aid, and the burning of some of the 3,000 copies printed.(Nashville Register, 1/2/02)
Oct. 24, 2001: University of California at Berkeley: protesting students trashed 1,000 copies of the Daily Californian because it included a pro-war ad urging invasion of Iran sponsored by the Ayn Rand Institute, a Leonard Peikoff essay titled "End States Who Sponsor Terrorism." The individuals replaced the paper with unsigned fliers, which call the ad "hate speech" and "irrational and inflammatory," and vowed "until the Daily Cal shifts its policy we will not allow business to continue as usual." Earlier, students had protested a cartoon in the paper that they deemed racist. The Berkeley student Senate in early October passed a resolution condemning The Daily Californian, the campus paper, for running a cartoon on September 18 showing two Muslim terrorists roasting in hell. On Sept. 18, Berkeley students held a sit-in inside the campus newspaper office, demanding an apology for a “racist editorial cartoon” and that six of their demands be met. When the newspaper refused, the students remained in the office until 18 were arrested and cited for trespassing.
According to the protesters, “Darrin Bell's cartoon depicts two men representing Muslim Arabs dressed in turbans, sitting in a demon's hand in what appears to be hell and claiming to be rewarded with ‘virgins’ by ‘Allah’ for perpetrating the World Trade Center attacks. Around them are flying bats meant to represent Muslim clerics, and a flight manual lies at their feet.”
“This coalition condemns this cartoon as an incendiary act of hate speech in a time where hate crimes, including murder, are being perpetrated daily against Arabs, Muslims, and anyone associated with those communities.”
The protester demands were: “1) a printed apology in Wednesday's issue, 2) mandatory sensitivity training for Daily Cal staff, 3) a permanent columnist representing the communities affected, 4) equal representation of people of color on the editorial board, 5) an effort towards sensitivity, and 6) limiting published articles and cartoons to those produced by students.”
The editorial board at the Daily Californian refused: “The Daily Californian will not issue an apology for the publication of Darrin Bell's work. The cartoon solely represents the perspective of one individual. It in no way reflects the views and opinions of the Daily Californian editor in chief, the Senior Editorial Board or the Daily Californian Staff. Although the concerns of appropriateness and timing are understood, we maintain the cartoon falls within the realm of fair comment. Cartoons are usually exaggerated, sometimes satire and almost always meant to spark a discussion. We are willing to begin a reasoned discourse on the issue with a representative group of student leaders. Readers and encouraged to write letters to the editor regarding the cartoon.”
The Berkeley student senate passed a resolution by an 11-7 vote calling for the Daily Cal to make a front-page apology and undergo sensitivity training. "The cartoon may promote the kind of harmful stereotyping that has led to the murder of Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Southeast Asians across the country," declared the resolution, which also added that the newspaper has the right "to express whatever views it wishes.” It called upon the paper to issue "a printed apology, and a new record of dedication to truth in editorial and news content...to rectify its complete insensitivity to the needs of its campus and its values." A suggestion that the university should raise the paper's $8,000 per month rent unless the newspaper staff underwent "voluntary diversity training" was dropped in committee.(Daily Cal, 10/12/01, 10/25/01; Student Press Law Center, 10/15/01, 10/25/01)(Cartoon sets, 2001)
Dec. 13, 2001: San Francisco State University: John Burks, chair of the journalism department at San Francisco State University, confiscated hundreds of copies of the Dec. 13 [X]press magazine because it had dildos on the cover. "This was about what the public will and will not stand for," Burks said. "Students didn't go to an adult bookstore and ask for this, they got it by walking through the student union.” After faculty voted to allow the issue to be released, Burks returned it to racks three days later. However, Burks says that he will not hesitate to seize future issues if they are controversial. Departmental policy declares, "the faculty gives editorial control to the students, with the final decision-making in the hands of the editor-in-chief." (Student Press Law Center, 12/21/01)
Nov. 16, 2001: Baker University: 700 copies of the Baker Orange were stolen on Nov. 16, apparently because the issue included a controversial article about the university's failure to investigate into date-rape charges.(Student Press Law Center, 11/21/01)
Nov. 14, 2001: University of New Mexico: Nine candidates in a student
government election stole 2,000 copies of the Nov. 14, 2001 issues of the Daily
Lobo at the University of New Mexico, inserting a flier for their political
party and then distributing it around campus. The candidates apologized for the
“inconvenience” but defended their actions because the newspaper is free.
The students were found guilty of violating election procedures and ordered to
pay a fine of $85.50 each.(Thieves swipe, 2001)
Nov. 8, 2001: Richard Stockton College of New Jersey: Copies of the Argo were taken on Nov. 8, 2001. The issue included articles on a sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the college president and vandalism to student cars.(Student Press Law Center, 11/21/01)
Nov. 1, 2001: Jacksonville University: The entire campus circulation, 1,000 copies, of the Nov. 1, 2001 issue of the Navigator were stolen for unknown reasons.(Student Press Law Center, 11/7/01)
Nov. 1, 2001: Florida A & M: Nearly 3,000 copies of the Nov. 1, 2001 Famuan were stolen, possibly because it included an article about a hazing incident involving the college band.(Student Press Law Center, 1/9/02)
Oct. 29, 2001: University of Southern Maine: Three students stole nearly 1,000 copies of the Oct. 29, 2001 Free Press from the Portland and Gorham campuses because it contained an article about sanctions imposed on the sorority Sigma Iota Sigma by the university. 1,000 copies of the Oct. 22 issue had also been taken. In the stolen Oct. 29 issue, a letter from university president Richard Pattenaude declared, "It is important for everyone to know that taking a press run of The Free Press issues from sites on campus is theft and will be treated as such by USM Police and by the Office of Community Standards.”(Student Press Law Center, 10/30/01; 11/9/01)
Oct. 25, 2001: Tufts University: 1,000 out of 2,700 copies of the Primary Source were stolen, and 600 copies of the Nov. 22 issue had stickers reading “imagine a campus free of sexism” put on the cover.(Tufts magazine, 2001)
Oct. 5, 2001: At the University
of Miami, members of Alpha Epsilon Pi stole 9,000 copies of The Hurricane
because of a front-page report in the Oct. 5, 2001 issue about pledges harassing
Muslims on campus. Two of the thieves were suspended, must perform community
service, and pay the paper $4,800. A third student was put on probation. The
Hurricane filed a police
report, but the university did not pursue criminal charges.(Thieves swipe, 2001)
Sept. 13, 2001: University of Memphis: on Sept. 13, 2001, 4,000 copies out of 9,500 copies of the Daily Helmsman were stolen, possibly due to an AP article on the terrorist attacks.(Student Press Law Center, 9/17/01)
Spring, 2001: University of Texas at Austin: students who took 2,000 copies of The Daily Texan were ordered to pay the newspaper $500 (25 cents for each stolen copy, the stated price of additional papers).(Some thieves, 2001)
May 22, 2001: University of California at Riverside: On May 22, 2001, 7,000 copies of the Highlander were stolen. An article in the issue reported on the drug arrests of two fraternity members.(Student Press Law Center, 6/8/01)
April 26, 2001: Iona College: the Ionian had 1,000 copies stolen on April 26, 2001, because it included an article about a sexual assault against a member of the women's soccer team. The college disciplined five students for the theft.(Student Press Law Center, 6/8/01)
April 26, 2001: Temple University: the April 26, 2001 issue of the Temple News was stolen because it included an article on hazing by a fraternity, and the reporter filed a police report about being threatened by the fraternity’s president.(Student Press Law Center, 6/8/01)
March 19-April 4, 2001: David Horowitz’s anti-reparations ad prompted theft of newspapers at the University of California at Berkeley. Daniel Hernandez, editor of Berkeley's Daily Californian apologized for publishing the ad after protesters occupied the Daily Cal office. At Brown, 4,000 copies of the Brown Daily Herald’s 5,500-copy press run in the issue after the one with the Horowitz ad were stolen by a coalition of groups, after editors refused to give them a free full-page in response to Horowitz and donate the proceeds of the Horowitz ad to charity. Brown interim president Sheila Blumstein condemned the theft. When the Daily Princetonian announced that they would donate the money from Horowitz’s April 4, 2001 ad to the National Urban League because "we do not want to profit from Horowitz's racism," Horowitz called the paper “irresponsible” and declared, “The check has been stopped pending an apology.”(Student Press Law Center, 3/20/01; Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2001; Brown Daily Herald, April 17, 2001)
April 1, 2001: University of Wisconsin at Stout: on April 1, 500 copies of the Stoutonia were stolen. On Feb. 8, 2,000 copies of the Stoutian were taken after an article reported on two quarterbacks accused of raping a students. "Technically, because they do not charge for those papers, it's not theft," said Lisa Walter, director of campus police, although the paper prints its policy that only the first copy is free. In 2000, 3,500 copies of an issue were stolen.(Student Press Law Center, 4/11/01; 2/28/01)
March 14, 2001: University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh: the Advance-Titan had 2,000 copies of the newspaper stolen on March 14, perhaps because of an article about underage drinking at a sorority party. Oshkosh Chancellor Richard Wells declared, "This assault on our most cherished freedom is an assault against the very life force that creates and sustains a university like ours."(Student Press Law Center, 4/11/01)
March 7, 2001: East Los Angeles College officials seized 4,000 of 5,000 copies of the Campus News because a front-page photo might have showed a witness to a student murder. Papers were returned to distribution racks the next day (although a student was seen stealing some copies of the paper that evening). The college's president, Ernest Moreno, refused to apologize for the administrators' actions, telling the Los Angeles Times that while student editors' First Amendment rights "had top priority," the administrators who took the papers "did the right thing."(SPLC, 3/20/01)
Feb. 20, 2001: 750 copies out of 14,000 of the University of South Carolina Gamecock were trashed by a student believed to be upset by the paper's endorsements for student government candidates.(SPLC, 3/2/01)
Feb. 20, 2001: 1,000 out of 3,000 copies of the Feb. 19 Wichita State University Sunflower were taken by a student senator and brought to a student government meeting to argue that the paper printed too many copies and its funding should be cut. The Sunflower received its request for $119,000 in funding.
Feb. 8, 2001: 2,000 of 5,500 copies of the University of Wisconsin at Stout's newspaper, The Stoutian, were stolen because of an article about a sexual assault on campus in which two of the football team's quarterbacks were accused of raping a student. The director of campus police declared, "Technically, because they do not charge for those papers, it's not theft," although the masthead prints the paper's policy that the first issue is free, but each additional copy is 25 cents. In the fall of 2000, 3,500 copies of an issue were stolen, and the paper paid $500 to reprint them.
Feb. 8, 2001: 2,000 out of 5,000 copies of Bloomsburg University's The Voice were stolen, but most were recovered by campus police. The thieves were angry about a front-page photo of emergency personnel carrying a student who collapsed while playing football and later died.(SPLC, 2/13/01)
Feb. 5, 2001: 10,000 out of 30,000 copies of Ohio State University's Lantern were stolen after revealing that the student government president secretly used a discretionary fund to give a $2,250 stipend to his chief of staff. Eight students (including the president) were punished for their involvement. They will be banned from student government, forced to apologize, reimburse the paper $3,200, and perform 20 hours of community service for The Lantern, including painting the newsroom.(SPLC, 2/8/01)
Jan. 30, 2001: 9,000 of 11,000 copies of the University of North Texas Daily were stolen because of a front-page story about fraternity members who yelled racial slurs at a group of high school football recruits. Editor Marie Eschenfelder said, "almost everyone on campus knew [about the story], which would not have happened if they had not stolen the papers. They really helped us more than they hindered us."(SPLC, 2/2/01)