Censorship:
Stand up, SUU
SUU students, faculty and staff have started to discuss
the issue of censorship on campus and the role administration
and others in positions of power should play in campus
media.
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives the
press broad license to publish as it sees fit:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition
government for a redress of grievances.”
We believe a free press will benefit the SUU community
by allowing expression of diverse ideas and making available
important information that otherwise may not be available
to students.
If the administration is allowed to censor student expression
or keep certain information out of campus media, we think
it will hinder the education that SUU aims to provide.
The federal courts have routinely upheld student journalists’
First Amendment rights to publish free of censorship.
Because SUU is federally and state-funded, the administration
has no right to censor campus media or threaten recourse
if it disagrees with their content.
In Kincaid v. Gibson (236 F.3d 342, 2001, en banc), the
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the free expression
rights of student journalists at Kentucky State University
after administrators attempted to censor the student newspaper
and yearbook.
In an 8-1 decision, the court ruled that Hazelwood School
District v. Kuhlmeier (484 U.S. 260, 1988), a Supreme
Court precedent that allowed high school principals to
censor their school newspapers, did not apply to college
and university publications.
The Sixth Circuit panel also found that Kentucky State
University administrators’ attempts to impose job
sanctions on the student publications adviser (who refused
to permit administrative censorship) were illegal and
unconstitutional.
We assert our right as student journalists to publish
a paper free of censorship or any other attempts to manipulate
or control content.
We ask SUU administrators to publicly commit to allowing
the Journal and other campus media to operate free of
censorship and threats of recourse for content they may
find disagreeable.
We also ask that the Board of Trustees commit public support
for the administration’s decision not to censor
campus media.
We do not ask that the administration refrain from commenting
on content that it finds disagreeable. We need that feedback.
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However, we ask that students be allowed to make content
decisions without administrative interference.
Because we believe it is imperative that student media are
controlled by students, we ask concerned persons, including
administrators, to voice concerns with student editors and
managers.When administrators or other concerned parties
fail to express their concerns directly to student editors,
a valuable teaching and learning opportunity is wasted.
Students have a hard time judging the validity of a concern
that is filtered through an academic adviser or a department
chair.
Finally, we believe the student body must play an active
role in maintaining the freedom of campus media. Thus, we
ask students who disagree with censorship in any form to
make their opinions known to all departments, administrators,
and others affiliated with SUU. We ask that students write
courteous, well-reasoned letters to the administration supporting
free expression in campus media and join other appropriate
efforts to protest censorship.
Because campus media are produced for the benefit of the
student body, the student body is at least partly responsible
for ensuring that the rights and responsibilities of such
media are protected.
The opinion expressed above is the collective perspective
of the University Journal and its editorial board. The editorial
board meets every Wednesday at 11 a.m. in Room 172 of the
Sharwan Smith Center. Visitors are welcome.
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