Petition: Protest

WE PROTEST

the

PRESIDENT'S SUPPRESSION OF ADVERTISING

THE OBSERVER

We, the undersigned faculty and staff of the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary's College, regret, disapprove of, and protest the decision of the President of the University to suppress all advertising submitted to The Observer by GALA* and OUTreachND.**

The President acts, inappropriately, as if he were the publisher of a putatively independent newspaper. Worse, since his policy rejects advertising from GALA and OUTreachND, in advance, without regard to the propriety or the educational and informational value of specific copy, it is arbitrary and discriminatory. The President's action threatens the credibility of The Observer as an independent newspaper.

However, if the President of a university exercises advance censorship of advertising copy in an independent student newspaper, both the decision and the views of the censored groups become newsworthy. We encourage The Observer editorial staff to continue their responsible and full coverage of this news, and we support all efforts to increase understanding of the role of a truly independent student newspaper in this community.

*GALA is the unofficial organization of Gay and Lesbian alumnae/i of the University of Notre Dame. **OUTreachND is the unofficial student organization supporting Notre Dame students questioning their sexual orientation or dealing with a sexual orientation placing them in a social minority.

John Adams, Beverly Ainsley, Joan Aldous, Susan Alexander, Heidi L. Ardizzone, Wendy Arons, Reginald F. Bain, Tamara Baker, Kate Baldwin, Charles Barber, Joseph Bauer, Kimberly A. Baum, Laura Bayard, Timothy Bays, Gail Bederman, James O. Bellis, Doris Bergen, Nora J. Besansky, Kathleen Biddick, Ikaros Bigi, Patricia Blanchette, Joseph Blenkinsopp, Thomas E. Bogenschild, Rebecca Bordt, John Borkowski, Scott D. Bridgham, Jacqueline Brogan, Seth Brown, Gerald L. Bruns, Theodore Cachy, Naomi Cassirer, Patricia Chang, Ann K. Clark, Robert Coleman, Frank Connolly, James P. Cunningham, James Cushing, Roberto Damata, Sperry Darden, Noreen Deane-Moran, Kenneth DeBoer, Michael DePaul, Mic Detlefsen, Jane A. Devine, Jeffrey Diller, Alyssa W. Dinega, Myrtle Doaks, Jay P. Dolan, William Donaruma, Matthew J. Doppke, Eileen M. Doran, Liz Dube, Brian Edwards, Elizabeth D. Eldon, Sam Evens, Steve Fallon, Jeremy Fein , Douglas J. Fishkind, Judith Fox, Stephen Fredman, Dolores W. Frese, JoAnn Gabrich, Patrick J Geary, Teresa Ghilarducci, James A. Glazier, Jill Godmilow, Frederick W. Goetz, Anamaria Goulet, Barbara Green, Arthur M. Grubert, Sandra M. Gustafson, Gary Gutting, David Hachen, Maureen Hallinan, Eugene Halton, Gary Hamburg, Christopher Hamlin, Noriko Hanabusa, Susan C. Hans, David Harley, Susan C. Harris, Robert Haywood, Marsha L. Heck, Glenn Hendler, Paula M. Higgins, Coleen Hoover, Alan Howard, Thomas Jemielity, Carlos Jerez-Farran, Encarnación Juárez, David Todd Jenkins, Paul Johnson, Maureen A. Jones, Sonja K. Jordan, Elizabeth M. Karle, Conrad Kellenberg, Douglas Kinsey, Marjorie Kinsey, Julia Knight, James Kolata, Janet Kourany, Michael Kremer, Robert A. Krieg, C.S.C., Bill Krier, Claudia Kselman, Tom Kselman, Greg Kucich, Giovanna Lenzi-Sandusky, Christine Levecq, Blake Leyerle, Marya Lieberman, Louise Litzinger, Joanne M. Mack, Mary Ann Mahony, Gail Mandell, Jill Mann, Ed Manier, Eugene R. Marshalek, Julia Marvin, Nancy Mascotte, Hank Mascotte, Diana C. J. Matthias, John Matthias, Bill McGlinn, John T. McGreevy, Robert McIntosh, Christopher A. McLaren, Patricia McNeal, Martha Merritt, Ken Milani, Carry F. Million, Christian Moevs, Kenneth E. Moore, Layna Mosley, Lenny Moss, Kathleen M. Murphy, Dian H. Murray, James Murray, Daniel J. Myers, Jennifer Nemecek, Alven M Neiman, Maura B. Nolan, Carolyn Nordstrom, Sean O'Brien, Maria Olivera-Williams, William O'Rourke, Catherine Perry, Teresa Godwin Phelps, Richard Pierce, Ann Plamondon, Carolyn Plummer, G. Margaret Porter, Jean Porter, Mary K. Porter, Ann Pouk, F. Clark Power, Joseph M. Powers, Ava Preacher, Diane Pribbernow, Kathy A. Psomiades, Kathleen Pyne, Phil Quinn, Benjamin Radcliff, Paul Rathburn, Gretchen Reydams-Schils, Andrew Reynolds, Joan Rhoads, Juan M. Rivera, Charles Rosenberg, David Ruccio, R. L. Rutsky, Kathryn Ryan-Zeugner, Susan St. Ville, Patti Sayre, Mark Schurr, Siiri S. Scott, James H. Seckinger, Robert P. Sedlack, Jr., Lili I. Selden, Tom Shaffer, Richard Sheehan, Daniel Sheerin, Dinah L. Shelton, Susan G. Sheridan, Kristin Shrader- Frechette, Michael A. Signer, Robert M. Slabey, J. Eric Smithburn, Donald C. Sniegowski, Lyn Spillman, James P. Sterba, Marsha Stevenson, Donald Stikeleather, Christopher Strathman , Patrick J. Sullivan, C.S.C., Tom Swartz, Kimberly Taylor, Lawrence R. Taylor, Margo Hobbs Thompson, Jay Tidmarsh, Maria Tomasula, Steve Tomasula, George Trey, Cameron Tuai, James Turner, Barbara Turpin, Eugene Ulrich, Linnea Vacca, Robert Vacca, James H. Walton, Kevin Wangler, Kathleen Maas Weigert, John P. Welle, Paul Weithman, James F. White, Thomas Whitman, Richard A. Williams, Ursula Williams, Karmen M. Wilson, Pamela Robertson Wojcik, Christina K. Wolbrecht, Martin H. Wolfson, Robert J. Wolosin, Jackie S. Wyatt, Ewa Ziarek, Krzysztof Ziarek

You are welcome to make donations of $5 or less in support of the costs of publishing this ad (The Observer,10/8 and 10/14, 1999). Total cost $600.

Contributions should be directed to A. Preacher, 101 O'Shaughnessy.