Censorship of faculty is unjust
Staff Editorial
Issue date: 1/22/09 Section: Opinion
We have been censored.
Winthrop faculty and staff were told not to speak to the press, including The Johnsonian, concerning the budget situation.
It's a shame for our community to have its First Amendment rights denied.
And having those rights violated is even more shameful, knowing that President Anthony DiGiorgio once decided not to censor a Web site containing juicy gossip about students.
"To do so would put the university in the position of becoming an institutional censor," DiGiorgio wrote in a column last semester for The Johnsonian about JuicyCampus.com.
Winthrop has just become an institutional censor.
"A university campus," DiGiorgio wrote, "is intended to be an open forum for airing a full range of free expression."
University Relations, however, seems to have the key to open that forum.
The Johnsonian needed a quote earlier this week from an arts professor, who said all Winthrop employees were instructed to direct all inquiries from the press about budget cuts to University Relations.
After being educated on the budget issue, the professor was authorized to talk to The Johnsonian, said Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs.
To avoid inaccurate information, questions about the budget situation should always go through the University Relations, Masters said.
"Everybody is trying to work together to deal with it in the best possible way," Masters said.
Is censorship the best possible way?
Nothing to hide. Nothing to lose. Nothing to fear.
Why is our administration scared of faculty and staff talking to the press?
"There are those in the world who seem not to understand (or want to understand) that with certain rights come certain responsibilities," DiGiorgio wrote in his column last September.
The administration has the right to decide how much we, students, are going to pay for our education and how many days faculty and staff will work for free.
With those rights come the responsibility of at least being candid to those affected by the budget crisis: all of us.
Winthrop faculty and staff were told not to speak to the press, including The Johnsonian, concerning the budget situation.
It's a shame for our community to have its First Amendment rights denied.
And having those rights violated is even more shameful, knowing that President Anthony DiGiorgio once decided not to censor a Web site containing juicy gossip about students.
"To do so would put the university in the position of becoming an institutional censor," DiGiorgio wrote in a column last semester for The Johnsonian about JuicyCampus.com.
Winthrop has just become an institutional censor.
"A university campus," DiGiorgio wrote, "is intended to be an open forum for airing a full range of free expression."
University Relations, however, seems to have the key to open that forum.
The Johnsonian needed a quote earlier this week from an arts professor, who said all Winthrop employees were instructed to direct all inquiries from the press about budget cuts to University Relations.
After being educated on the budget issue, the professor was authorized to talk to The Johnsonian, said Rebecca Masters, assistant to the president for public affairs.
To avoid inaccurate information, questions about the budget situation should always go through the University Relations, Masters said.
"Everybody is trying to work together to deal with it in the best possible way," Masters said.
Is censorship the best possible way?
Nothing to hide. Nothing to lose. Nothing to fear.
Why is our administration scared of faculty and staff talking to the press?
"There are those in the world who seem not to understand (or want to understand) that with certain rights come certain responsibilities," DiGiorgio wrote in his column last September.
The administration has the right to decide how much we, students, are going to pay for our education and how many days faculty and staff will work for free.
With those rights come the responsibility of at least being candid to those affected by the budget crisis: all of us.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mark Hamilton
posted 1/30/09 @ 9:40 AM EST
This censorship by University Relations extends to not only written and or spoken word but to works of Art. This past year my wife and I had some works on display at an exhibition at USC in Columbia. (Continued…)
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