Campus policy hinders students right to freedom of speech
Graham Dining Center employees recently told Jerk magazine staff that the publication could not be distributed within the dining facility. The issue has developed into a larger conflict in which other Student Activity Fee-funded publications now have to cut through red tape to have their publications distributed at dining centers. University officials state that this is due to a long-standing policy that doesn’t allow student publications other then The Daily Orange in dining centers and is not an issue of the magazine’s content. The policy is not in writing, and campus publications have never had a problem with this before.
Even though the university is not censoring Jerk magazine, it is hindering its readership by not allowing it to be distributed in high-traffic areas. Syracuse University is recognized as having one of the top communications schools in the country, and limiting the distribution of publications and creating road blocks for students to view their peers’ work is counterproductive.
These publications are included in the Student Fee, and therefore students should have the ability to attain these publications in non-academic vicinities.
If areas of distribution are limited, the university needs to sit down with the editors and advisers of Student Fee-funded publications and map out exactly where the publications can and cannot be displayed and distributed.
Unless a policy can be presented in writing, these actions violated students’ rights to publish free ideas as well as the ability for students to learn the ideas and opinions of their peers.
