Hello fellow University of Redlands students. Some of you have probably heard by now that our campus newspaper, The Bulldog Weekly, has been put on temporary hiatus by ASUR cabinet. The students have a right to know what happened, and since we cannot let you know via the paper anymore, Ive decided to spread the word using the next best thing: social media. Below is part of an e-mail (with a couple of added sentences now that some time has passed) my co-editor-in-chief Taylor Jordan Holmes and I (mostly Taylor) wrote to our newspaper staff shortly after we received the news. The information regarding what exactly happened is there: Staff, We found out yesterday morning from the ASUR President that ASUR Cabinet held a vote regarding the Bulldog Weekly on Wednesday night. They voted to place the newspaper on temporary hiatus until further notice because they believe there are issues with the quality of the newspaper. Essentially, theyre cutting our funding until they get what they want, which means that, currently, were all out of the job. To understand why, read below. In Issue 5 of this semesters paper (published on 11/10) we ran a piece about the Hunsaker donation, in which a student was quoted saying that the criteria of the scholarship seemed to favor rich, white males. This raised a flag with admin, so in anticipation of a campus visit by the Hunsakers, Char Burgess (VP and Dean) directed the President of ASUR and others to remove all the newspapers from the common areas (library, commons) for that day. This was happening at the same time that the Director of SLIC and the ASUR President were pursuing the writer of the article without notifying us, the co-editors-in-chief. After multiple cancellations of the meeting by the writer, they continued to pursue her and finally we made the executive decision to prevent her from meeting with them. As co-editors, we take ultimate responsibility for the content of the paper, so if there is a concern it is only professional that we be notified rather than the writers. In addition, we only know about the papers being removed from common areas because we were told by the writer of the article. This is all to say that there have been more than a few ethical failures on the part of the administration and ASUR (censorship being chief among them). We eventually met with the SLIC director and the ASUR President and discussed the methods taken by the writer in pursuing the quote in question. It was brought to our attention that the initial draft of the story did not include the words rich, white male, but that upon being asked by our advisor Erin Aubry-Kaplan to expand on a point made by the writer in an earlier conversation about the donation (which was that many people the writer had spoken with held the view that the donation was racially biased), our writer revisited the person she initially took a quote from and asked them if that was what they meant. The person who was quoted agreed that that was what they meant. Us co-editors conceded that this was not the best way to collect a quote. We addressed it with the writer and were prepared to move on from there. It was decided, mutually, that there was a need for a meeting of the entire BW advisory board (which is composed of faculty, the ASUR President, the SLIC director, our advisor Erin, and us, as well as some members of the administration). Initially, however, Erin was not invited to the meeting. Preceding the meeting was a mile long chain of e-mails between the various members of the board, excluding Erin. We pointed out that the omission of Erin was inappropriate and unprofessional. After multiple e-mails and probing, Erin was allowed to attend this meeting where we were supposedly going to be discussing how to improve the quality of the paper. At this point, we were concerned that there was an element of racism underlying all that has happened (given that the quote that started this pointed out potential racial bias, and that Erin, a Black woman, was the only person on the advisory board not initially invited to the meeting). Yesterday morning we arrived at the meeting in question to be told at the outset that ASUR held an emergency meeting wherein they voted to put the Bulldog Weekly on hiatus. According to the ASUR President, the hiatus will only last as long as it takes for them to organize a committee to further discuss the future of the paper. They offered to let us pick anyone wed like to be on the committee. ASUR Cabinet told us that they believe they have the right to place us on hiatus because they represent the voice of the student body, and this is what they believe the student body would want. It is worth mentioning that, frustratingly for us, we were not communicated with throughout this affair. We were not consulted or confronted about the quality of the paper (until yesterday). And aside from a general invitation extended by the ASUR President to us co-editors last Mayterm, we were not invited to any of the ASUR Cabinet meetings held concerning the paper this semester (because apparently there were quite a few). It is in good faith that we would like to let you all know this: this is NOT about the quality of the paper. The staff has done great work this year, and any mistakes we have made have been fairly minor, and standard for most newspapers. We believe that, rather, there is a problem with the relationship between the paper and the university. Because we are funded by ASUR and the administration, there lingers a sentiment that the paper ought to be the mouthpiece of the university. Fact is, it isnt our job to say what the administration wants us to say. Period. If you have questions, protestations, or war cries to deliver, please feel free to get in touch with us. Also, SPREAD THE WORD to your friends. Though the administration is not outright saying it, this is censorship. This is a power play. Keep in mind that the entire staff of the newspaper just lost their jobs until further notice. These were paid positions. If youre not okay with this, let the administration know. Start petitions. E-mail the president (both of the university and of ASUR) if you so wish. You are also free to e-mail the Bulldog Weekly if you have any further concerns or questions regarding the paper at redlands.bulldog@gmail. We appreciate anyone who is willing to help us get our voices back out there and cant wait to work with whoevers on board. In the words of my friend Jordan P Marshak: Fight the admin.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 04:47:25 +0000
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