What does Fairfield University and Belmont Abbey College have in common? They’re both two private Catholic schools in the eastern United States. Both have their controversies, but Fairfield’s caught up over a student columnist’s take on the ‘Walk of Shame.’ (By the way, I’m not talking about anything having to do with the stations of the cross.)
Parents, if you don’t know what that is or don’t remember, maybe you shouldn’t read this.
First, get some background here. It was a stupid, pointless column. What is it about Connecticut college students anyway (check here) and their penchant for testing people and stirring up stuff? Back to the column. It was something that could’ve gone without being published. But, it’s protected by free speech. And now, a war is in full force. The university’s harrassment policy has been brought up and throws the whole idea of a student newspaper out of wack. Look at what the article says the policy could do:
“Under the Fairfield code, a student who writes a pro-life opinion piece that characterizes pro-choice supporters as “baby killers” could face charges if a reader claims the language is demeaning, Simon said. Under Pellegrino’s ruling, The Mirror could be sanctioned for allowing such student debate to take place, he added.”
What the heck. Fairfield has a communication history. At first glance (yeah, Wikipedia, oh well), it has several publications and a media building. A founding member of MSNBC, a WH correspondent, a newspaper publisher (Conn. Post)…all went there.
The university has this history and the students there are doing their best to get the newspaper taken away. What the heck.
It makes me think of the Abbey Crusader (don’t go to the Web site, it’s been broken for awhile.)
When I first worked with the Belmont Abbey College newspaper, it only had one-two issues my freshman year. Vividly, I remember asked a student admission recruiter on a phone call if the college had a newspaper back in 1995. She said, “Uh, we don’t have a newspaper.” Yes, they did (one issue that year), but the student interest wasn’t there. From that explanation by folks at the time, I think I developed a small paranoia that if the college didn’t have an embarrassing college newspaper to hand out, it was helping admissions, etc. It made me think of a former admissions counselor who told me that if gave Saturday morning tours through the dorms he would have to run his route an hour before so he could pick up all the beer cans, etc.
But, back to the point…
After three years, editors Christopher Iwancio and Clarence Courseault had it going great. We had some PR stories, we had some controversial stories and political cartoons, we had some layout skills, we had a great staff, we had opposing viewpoints, we had SHIRTS! We almost had a real college newspaper. And, by saying that, I don’t mean to demean. I mean, we were effective and made an impact on our readers.
If you’re on a college newspaper staff, don’t shirk from controversy (even if your publication is free and paid by the college or university and you don’t want to get them angry), but at the same time, don’t be an idiot and get your free speech taken away. The administration will respect you if you don’t act like an idiot.
