Group encourages Malloy to withdraw attempted ad ban
By TIM LOGAN
News Writer
All year long, the University's ban on advertisements from gay and lesbian alumni and student groups has been a major concern for the Faculty Senate.
Last week, they spoke out on it.
Members voted 27-1 at its meeting May 9 to ask University president Father Edward Malloy to withdraw the policy and to declare that The Observer should not be placed under the oversight of the Office of Student Affairs.
The request took the form of a letter to Malloy and is not binding in any way, but it represents faculty sentiment on the policy. Many professors claim the attempted ban violates academic and press freedom, and more than 215 faculty and staff members signed a petition last semester calling for its withdrawal.
"This has been a concern of the faculty throughout the year," said senate chair Jean Porter.
Chandra Johnson, The Observer's liason to the Office of the President, did not return repeated phone calls, but she and Malloy have said that the University acts as The Observer's publisher. As publisher, the administration would have the right to determine editorial and advertising content. University officials have never tried to influence articles run in the paper, but on a few occasions, they have called for bans on certain kinds of advertising. The University also collects the $6 per semester fee which students voted in 1967 to give the paper. However, it provides no other funding.
The Observer, for its part, has maintained that it sets its own policies, and the paper has run several ads from GALA-ND/SMC and OutReachND. Editor-in-chief Mike Connolly said he appreciated the senate's vote.
"The Observer is grateful for the Faculty Senate's support and hopes the administration will understand our need for complete editorial freedom," he said.
The resolution and an accompanying report on the issue were researched and presented by the senate's Student Affairs Committee, chaired by Ava Preacher, assistant dean in the College of Arts and Letters. She said there was a lot of concern among the faculty that The Observer would be placed under Student Affairs, as Scholastic Magazine is, and assigned a faculty advisor. The Observer has been entirely student-run since its founding in 1966.
"If [administrators] really want to run it like a professional journalistic endeavor, they need to allow it to run as it does, without fear of a lockout, or having their equipment taken or their editor fired," Preacher said.
In January, Malloy created an ad hoc committee to review The Observer's relationship with the administration and the newspaper's advertising policy. The committee will also study the way The Observer prepares students for journalism careers. This function of the student newspaper, Preacher said, is also important to senators.
"Clearly [Malloy] sees The Observer as an educational tool," she said. "If it is an educational tool, it does not belong under Student Affairs."
The ad hoc committee was originally charged with making a recommendation at the end of this semester, but it will likely continue to study the matter through the summer, according to committee member Dennis Moore. The group will consider the Faculty Senate's recommendation in their discussion, Moore said.
In other Senate News
Members voted 19-4 in favor of a proposal designed to curb the results of grade inflation at Notre Dame.
The resolution called for two changes. One would restrict Dean's List recognition and graduation honors to no more than the top 25 percent of students in each College. Currently, 39.8 percent of undergraduates graduate cum laude or above.
The proposal also called for transcripts to include the average grade in classes alongside the student's individual letter grade.
The Academic Council will consider the resolution when it meets again next semester.
All News Stories for Friday, May 19, 2000
