Related: PDF version of the CSA resolution, and EMCVT's response.
Virginia Tech will not revoke funding to the Collegiate Times and other student media endeavors, contrary to the proposal a Tech advisory group laid out last Friday.
“The university is not going to exercise administrative leverage to pressure the Collegiate Times,” said university spokesman Larry Hincker. “The chief legal counsel made clear that the actions (the Commission on Student Affairs) were asking for is not permissible under the law.”
The Commission on Student Affairs had recommended the university ban student organizations from buying ads with university funds as well. The proposed financial cutbacks resulted from a controversy over anonymous reader comments posted to the Collegiate Times Web site.
The CSA sent a letter early last week to Kelly Wolff, general manager of the Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech. The letter stated the Collegiate Times may be in violation of the university’s “Principles of Community” for its online commenting process, and declared that if the organization did not agree to negotiate the status of the commenting, the commission would recommend action be taken by the university.
“In the Principles of Community, there is language talking about holding people with dignity and respect and having a civil tone,” said Ed Spencer, vice president for student affairs. “The commission members have been saying that if we’re going to publish comments, they ought to be consistent with letters to the editor so people in a civil community can be held responsible.”
Spencer said the CSA and Collegiate Times began to discuss the current comment system, among other things, last semester. Spencer noted interest was generated again after a more recent article in the CT.
“The interest got sparked again when some of the online comments came back in response to the article about the diversity summit,” Spencer said. “Commission members realized it was still going on and that’s why they asked to sit down and talk with the staff again about it.”
Wolff claimed EMCVT would pursue legal action if the university followed through on the recommendations and rejected the offer to negotiate resolution.
“Our role was to ensure that students’ editorial rights were defended,” Wolff said.
She added that the effect of a funding cut would likely not extend as much to the Collegiate Times as it would to other student media organizations, such as WUVT, VTTV, and the Silhouette literary magazine.
“Really, it would not have much impact on the Collegiate Times operations,” Wolff said. “It earns enough revenue to support itself.”
Spencer said he was present at the first meeting in which more serious legislation was considered, noting his most prominent role was to explain the nature of the relationship between EMCVT and Tech, as well as its history.
Spencer said the Collegiate Times currently receives free office space in Squires Student Center and $70,000 annually from Tech, among other things. The contract does not have an explicit end date. Wolff said it “continues in full force and effect until one part gives 24 months notice of the intent to non-renew/negotiate.”
“It’s not the sort of thing you want to subject to the whims of this administrator or that administrator,” Wolff said. “It needs to be very stable.”
Once the history of the relationship dating back to 1997 had been discussed, Spencer said “someone” on the commission made a notion to request further conversation with the Collegiate Times, and if that did not happen, to request that action be taken.
Michelle McLeese, CSA chairwoman, presented the proposal that would recommend the university give notice that it does not plan to extend contract with EMCVT until an acceptable resolution was reached. The contract requires 24-month notice be given by either side before ending or renegotiating the contract. The CSA consists of 42 members, including students, faculty, and staff.
McLeese did not answer calls seeking comment from the Collegiate Times.
And what Wolff labels as a situation that is potentially of, “grave concern to first amendment advocates,” Spencer called a “strong message,” declining to speculate on what the CSA expected to happen, had the commission’s recommendations been forwarded on to the university administration and ultimately passed.
“It seemed like the long history that Virginia Tech had of taking the hands-off approach had come to an end,” Wolff said. “The fact that there are a lot of administrators that sit on the CSA and none of them were knowledgeable about the laws applying to student media, or weren’t willing to share, is a message of concern.”
As for the future between the two parties, Spencer said he was unsure of the direction it would head.
“It’s on the agenda for discussion this Thursday, but I don’t know,” Spencer said. “I’m not sure what their pleasure will be at this point. I think if one rereads the letter, the commission really wanted to sit down and talk about it, and that remains the case.”
Though legally a resolution has been reached, Hincker said cooperation from both sides would be required to pacify both parties.
“I believe the guys at the CT still have some work to do with our readership,” Hincker said. “The CSA still has some work to do to understand or communicate what their concerns are.
There still is an underlying issue that fellow students are concerned with. My hope would be that the dialogue would continue.”