Transcript Censored
Roughly 275 copies removed from Ham-Will because of front page content
Mark Dubovec
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
Two weeks after the journalism department hosted a week-long celebration of First Amendment rights, this publication suffered an infringement of its own freedom of the press.
Last week, The Transcript ran stories on page one about the 50-Day Club at the Backstretch Bar and the possible installation of surveillance cameras in campus residence halls. Over the weekend, at least one junior Admissions Office staff member made a personal decision to remove roughly 275 copies of the publication from racks in the Hamilton-William Campus Center before Slice of College Life.
This was done with intentions to highlight positive aspects of the university during an admission event and not as a conscious violation of the First Amendment, according to Assistant Vice President of Admission and Financial Aid Carol DelPropost.
"We regret if anyone was offended. We did not mean to offend anyone but simply to do our best to meet the enrollment goals of our university," DelPropost said. "We offer apologies to all of The Transcript staff."
Slice is the largest admissions event of the year. Between 220 and 230 admitted potential students and their parents visited the campus last weekend to get a feel for life at OWU.
"Our intent is to showcase our students, our faculty, our facilities and help them understand why [admitted seniors] might be best suited to attend Ohio Wesleyan," she said. "Our staff generally looks to clean up things."
DelPropost added that the tough economy exacerbates the challenge of attracting students.
"Our work hinges on our showing people the value of an Ohio Wesleyan education," DelPropost said. "The students who we want to join Ohio Wesleyan are competed for by many, many fine institutions."
"We all respect all who work on The Transcript, and we appreciate and value that we have such a vehicle on our campus to communicate with others, and again, I regret that this has occurred and that it has offended people," DePropost said. "It won't happen again."
Last week, The Transcript ran stories on page one about the 50-Day Club at the Backstretch Bar and the possible installation of surveillance cameras in campus residence halls. Over the weekend, at least one junior Admissions Office staff member made a personal decision to remove roughly 275 copies of the publication from racks in the Hamilton-William Campus Center before Slice of College Life.
This was done with intentions to highlight positive aspects of the university during an admission event and not as a conscious violation of the First Amendment, according to Assistant Vice President of Admission and Financial Aid Carol DelPropost.
"We regret if anyone was offended. We did not mean to offend anyone but simply to do our best to meet the enrollment goals of our university," DelPropost said. "We offer apologies to all of The Transcript staff."
Slice is the largest admissions event of the year. Between 220 and 230 admitted potential students and their parents visited the campus last weekend to get a feel for life at OWU.
"Our intent is to showcase our students, our faculty, our facilities and help them understand why [admitted seniors] might be best suited to attend Ohio Wesleyan," she said. "Our staff generally looks to clean up things."
DelPropost added that the tough economy exacerbates the challenge of attracting students.
"Our work hinges on our showing people the value of an Ohio Wesleyan education," DelPropost said. "The students who we want to join Ohio Wesleyan are competed for by many, many fine institutions."
"We all respect all who work on The Transcript, and we appreciate and value that we have such a vehicle on our campus to communicate with others, and again, I regret that this has occurred and that it has offended people," DePropost said. "It won't happen again."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
amy lander
posted 4/13/09 @ 6:11 PM EST
"We regret if anyone was offended. We did not mean to offend anyone but simply to do our best to meet the enrollment goals of our university," DelPropost said. (Continued…)
John Ruch
posted 6/28/09 @ 6:15 PM EST
Ohio Wesleyan is a private institution, so the First Amendment does not apply in this case; therefore, this article's First Amendment angle is incorrect. (Continued…)
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