Editorials

Censorship unacceptable on campus

April 16, 2009


Though it carried a warning that the reader should “chill out” and take the articles lightly, The Hoya’s April Fools’ issue has provoked a wave of criticism by Georgetown students and members of the administration. While offended students are certainly entitled to their anger, many have called for outside supervision of the paper to ensure that no future issues will contain such inflammatory and offensive content. Yet, no matter how offensive or inappropriate The Hoya’s joke issue may have been, calls for oversight or review of any campus publication are dangerous; censorship is not the solution to insensitivity.

The issue admittedly caused a huge uproar on campus, receiving widespread condemnation and criticism from a variety of student groups. Forty offended students organized a sit-in in The Hoya’s Leavey Center office, quietly reading copies of the issue in question while Hoya staffers worked. A Facebook group titled, “The Hoya: Discrimination is Not a Laughing Matter” currently has almost 500 members and features scanned clips from the issue. On April 9, The Hoya held an open forum for students to voice their anger and propose suggestions on how the paper can improve itself.

Even the GUSA Senate joined the fray, writing a resolution condemning the issue and calling for the paper to “apologize in person for the damage inflicted upon campus cohesion and the reputability of the Georgetown institution.” Many students at the forum called for an outside party to review the paper before publication to ensure that future editions do not contain articles that are offensive to the student body.

Thankfully, University President John DeGioia rightfully rejected these calls for censorship. As with any newspaper, it is ultimately The Hoya’s own responsibility to ensure that its coverage of campus events is fair and balanced, even when it makes attempts at humor. Imposing censorship on student media is no way to improve the quality of journalism at Georgetown.

Instead, the University should look to expand its pitifully limited journalism program. Increased attention to student journalism would not only improve the quality of student media; it would raise the general student body’s awareness of the need for free speech and the threat posed by university censorship of campus publications. The furor surrounding the issue shows that journalism on campus is far from perfect. Rather than censoring campus media, the University must make a steadfast commitment to educating and advising student journalism to prevent another April Fools’ fiasco.


Editorial Board
The Editorial Board is the official opinion of the Georgetown Voice. Its current composition can be found on the masthead. The Board strives to publish critical analyses of events at both Georgetown and in the wider D.C. community. We welcome everyone from all backgrounds and experience levels to join us!


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Tom Lavin

IHS was censored from Gaston for BO.
Sounds like the setting of a precedent to me.

Lee Richardson

A person who did not see any of the “jokes” before hasn’t the faintest idea of the problem you raise here. Your article is just about the responses the “jokes” caused. I can only guess how horrible they were and whether “censorship is unacceptable on campus” regarding these horrors