Publication Task Force rejects censorship recommendations

John Palmer Contributing Editor

The Publication Task Force presented its proposal for the Vassar Student Association (VSA) by-laws to the student body in an open meeting Wednesday, April 19. The Task Force, composed of nine students who have met weekly since November 2005, did not propose any specific censorship procedures but did outline procedures to address offensive content printed in VSA-sponsored publications.

The proposal calls for all publications “that are under the auspices of the VSA” to “submit by-laws stipulating the mission and purpose of the publication, the role of the editor, the process for the inclusion of submissions.” Section C states, “The VSA will not under any circumstances act as a censoring body.” According to section F, publications and editors will assume responsibility for the content of unsigned editorials and information provided by anonymous sources.

Some students at the meeting expressed dissatisfaction with the current proposal, saying it did not adequately address the issues that led to the creation of the Task Force last fall. Many wanted specific language prohibiting hate speech in campus publications and the creation of a race-based set of guidelines.

VSA Vice President and Chair of the Publications Task Force Kelsey Woods ’06 said, “We didn’t feel comfortable setting down…specific words you can and cannot say,” citing examples of how a publication could be offensive without using defined words in a censorship manual. According to Woods, that would be “too limiting and wouldn’t advance what we were trying to achieve.”

Danielle Purifoy ’06 recently quit her post on the Task Force after disputes with other members. She said, “The bottom line is that the Task Force was formed directly out of The Imperialist incident that was completely racially motivated…Why do you address this issue with a race-neutral policy?” Purifoy advocated specific policies addressing the use of racial slurs and other hate speech. “Of course, whatever we put down wouldn’t be an end-all be-all policy—it’s the fact that you’re expressing some concern for [protecting minorities].”

Currently, no VSA process exists to address hate speech or harassment in student publications. “This year definitely showed there were weaknesses in the current by-laws [in dealing with student publications]. This fills the gap,” said Task Force member Elizabeth Kaeser ’06.

Under the Task Force recommendation, concerns about offensive content in VSA-funded publications will result in the creation of a five-person special committee to investigate the charges. The committee would have two weeks to determine instances of harassment or discrimination “as defined in the Vassar College Regulations, Part E, Section 4.”

The Task Force met Wednesday, April 26, to discuss the final proposal, which it hopes the VSA Council will adopt before the end of the year.