CAMPUS

April 16th, 2009

No Freedom of Speech at UMass Amherst

I previously wrote about a terrible case of newspaper theft at UMass Amherst, where copies of the conservative paper, the Minuteman, were stolen right in front of police. The police and administration did nothing to stop or punish the theft, apparently seeing nothing wrong with suppressing free speech.

Well, the story keeps getting worse. FIRE reports that the Student Government Association (SGA) at UMass Amherst, acting with blatant disregard for the First Amendment, has threatened to shut down the paper unless it apologizes to the woman who stole its issues. (She was mocked in the issue in question – apparently the impetus for her juvenile actions.) On top of that, the SGA refused to hear a resolution put forward by a student senator that would rescind the illegal action. The senator was then removed by police after he protested the SGA’s violation of its own bylaws (not to mention the Constitution).

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella

April 1st, 2009

Conservative Paper Stolen at UMass Amherst

FIRE reports that the conservative paper at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Minuteman, had its latest issue stolen off the racks. Worse, campus security and the the university administration did nothing to stop the theft. Just another case of tolerance and understanding at a fine institution of higher education.

Posted in Blog
By CJ Ciaramella