Last year, The Hoya released a terribly offensive and entirely unfunny April Fools’ issue. The “joke” issue was full of backwards stereotypes and cultural insensitivity, which unsurprisingly provoked a huge student outcry. But more unsettling than the offensive articles themselves is The Hoya leadership’s unwillingness to issue an outright mea culpa, opting instead for, “We’re sorry if you found this offensive” non-apology apologies. It is time for The Hoya to own up to its mistake and admit that it was wrong, not just that others perceived it to be wrong.
As mistaken as the issue’s publication was, and as disappointing as The Hoya’s response has been, the University was wrong to suspend their nearly finalized independence bid. The Media Board, the organization that oversees and funds official Georgetown student media, issued a series of sanctions over the summer in response to the April Fools’ issue, including a one-year delay of their long-awaited emancipation from the University.
Except in a few instances when Georgetown objected to advertisements that violate Catholic teachings, the University does not interfere with the content published in the student press. But the Media Board’s decision creates the troubling perception that it is willing to punish papers for their editorial decisions, and highlights the dysfunctional relationship between the board and its charges.
While it is understandable that the University is fearful of offensive content printed in Georgetown’s “Newspaper of Record,” The Hoya’s staff, readers, and advertisers should be the ones holding the paper accountable, not the University. It is the responsibility of the newspaper staff, not an external review board, to make sure content is appropriate to print.
As one of only three top 25 universities without an independent paper, Georgetown deserves an autonomous news source. Once the suspension period ends, the University should allow The Hoya to go independent and should extend to it the same conditions stipulated in last year’s agreement. The paper should be allowed to keep its name and be distributed on campus, as it would have if it had been permitted to go independent this year.
The Media Board’s decision transformed what was a debate about Georgetown’s diversity issues into a fight over the rights of the student press, illustrating in the process why the University’s relationship with The Hoya is so problematic, and why it deserves to go independent.
