New Student Affairs policy is inappropriate

By: Editorial Board

Posted: 11/20/08

It has recently come to light that the Department of Student Affairs has enacted a policy designed to control media inquiry into the functioning of this university. Not only is such a policy unnecessary, it is also unfairly restrictive and has no place at a university whose goal is the advancement of academic exploration.

The policy needs to be rescinded for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is unfair to journalists. Journalists need to be able to contact a multitude of sources in order to report on information that is vital to the public's ability to make good decisions. This policy, if nothing else, slows that flow of information and ultimately hurts citizens. The policy is also a near violation of Connecticut's Freedom of Information Act, especially considering that UConn is a public university and therefore is required by law to disclose a great deal of information.

The policy also needs to be changed because it does not fit well with the image of the rest of the UConn community. In a Hartford Courant op-ed earlier this month, President Hogan wrote about the importance of a free and robust press in a functioning democracy. Now he is president of a school with a policy aimed at restricting the free flow of information to that very same press. This contradiction does not help the university as it tries to send a clear message about its values to the people of Connecticut.

The policy is also poorly designed because it relies far too much on university spokeswoman Karen Grava. To her falls the job of sorting through all media requests and attempting to put reporters in touch with sources in a timely manner. Considering the size of the UConn community, this would be a daunting task for 10 people, let alone for one. This system leads to a great deal of inefficiency and while Grava has aimed to be helpful, adding another person to the reporting process tends to only slow things down.

What remains to be seen is why UConn would even consider enacting such an ill-conceived policy. Quinnipiac University, which employed a similar policy against the media last year, was recently chastised by a whole host of prominent national media outlets. Indeed, The New York Times even went so far as to publish an editorial on Quinnipiac's actions, calling the policy a "gag order" and bringing unfavorable national attention to the school. UConn already receives more than its fair share of bad press for Spring Weekend; do we really need to become notorious for censorship as well?

Student Affairs' policy has no redeeming qualities and ought to be reversed as soon as possible.