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Cornell cuts funding for student paper
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Also by Sundeep Malladi:
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by Sundeep Malladi
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
NEW YORK — The Cornell Student Assembly Finance Commission has stopped funding its conservative student newspaper, the Cornell American.
The decision occurred in light of two recent articles. The first, which the campus’ NAACP chapter attacked, challenged racial preferences in admissions. The second condemned the use of student-fee money to sponsor an on-campus drag show.
Advertising, donations and SAFC funds supported the Cornell American, which contributed to the decision to cut funding.
“We are outraged by the recent actions of the Cornell Student Assembly Finance Commission (SAFC) to de-fund the ‘Cornell American,’” the editors of the Cornell American said in a statement. “Their decision to censor us is an insult to all who cherish academic freedom, and it will not be tolerated.”
Donald Downs, a UW political science professor and author of “Cornell ‘69: Liberalism and the Crisis of the American University,” said this kind of censorship has occurred elsewhere. He cited an instance with University of California-Berkley’s “Daily Californian.”
“This is symptomatic of the way Cornell has been … for a long time,” Downs said.
Downs, a Cornell graduate, said this is not the first time a Cornell newspaper has been at odds with the university’s liberal climate. The predecessor to the Cornell American, the Cornell Review, also came under heavy fire from liberals.
It had gotten as bad as “newspaper burnings.” Liberal extremism has been relatively constant since 1969, Downs said.
The Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell’s more liberal student newspaper, reports the SAFC chose to stop funding the Cornell American because the newspaper had broken ethical guidelines.
While the events surrounding the Cornell American are taking place in Ithaca, N.Y., newspapers and other organizations in Madison have been subject to heavy criticism.
Downs noted SAFC’s decision at Cornell directly counters a Madison argument that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. He referred to the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System case, Petitioner vs. Scott Harold Southworth, et al., which found UW can finance political or ideological organizations because it uses a “value-neutral” stance when appropriating funds.
Downs also said Cornell, unlike most universities, is a half-public, half-private institution, but it is “public enough” to recognize the value of the Southworth case. Although the American may also be considered overly conservative at times, Downs said it is the one “organ” of right-wing thought on a particularly liberal campus.
Perhaps what is most alarming, according to Downs, is the de-funding occurred three weeks before the presidential election.
“Hopefully there will be some resistance and the student government will change its mind,” Downs said.
Some Madison students are also at odds with the SAFC’s decision to cut funding from the Cornell American.
“I would say that it’s not really fair because if other organizations get [funding] they should too,” UW sophomore Thomas Latzke said. He also said, however, that to some extent the Southworth case made sense.
UW sophomore Jacob Notbohm disagreed.
“It’s not fair because I think the students have the right to share their opinions with other people, and newspapers are a way to do that,” he said.
Anonymous (October 19, 2004 @ 4:17pm):
Tolerance, tolerance, tolerance.
Delfin J Beltran MD (February 7, 2005 @ 12:03pm):
Your article comes at an important time. It is apparently in the code of ethics of the liberal left to remove financial support from citizens who disagree with their beliefs. The presidents budget reportedly debudgets or reduces funding of 150 activities. Could a conservative mind expect that the screams and howls of the 'Liberal Louds' will exceed the cheers of the Patriots?
Delfin J Beltran MD (February 7, 2005 @ 12:05pm):
Your article comes at an important time. It is apparently in the code of ethics of the liberal left to remove financial support from citizens who disagree with their beliefs. The presidents budget reportedly debudgets or reduces funding of 150 activities. Could a conservative mind expect that the screams and howls of the 'Liberal Louds' will exceed the cheers of the Patriots?
Anonymous (February 8, 2005 @ 9:13pm):
Your article is completely incorrect on the facts. The defunding of the Cornell American had NOTHING to do with what they published. It was based on the fact that they applied for funding under the guise of the Cornell Literary Society, and said that their purpose, among other things was to have "poetry readings," something the conservative newspaper never got around to. If they'd just applied as the Cornell American they would have gotten full funding; instead, they tried lying to the SAFC for some reason. And don't say it's because they were afraid of not getting funded as a conservative newspaper: the Cornell Review (founded by Anne Coulter) has gotten consistently funded for years.
Benjamin Lowe '04
Cornell University
