By Sadef Ali Kully
CUNY’s York College recently sent out a memorandum to faculty members about a new media policy leaving professors outraged at the policy .
The change in policy followed news reports that an accused terrorist had been a student at York College and an investigative series in the college newspaper about sexual harassment on campus.
Founded in 1966, York College, located in Jamaica, is one of the 11 senior colleges in the City University system.
The memorandum stated, “This procedure does not pertain to faculty members who are approached for commentary on their areas of expertise….All media requests must be vetted by our Marketing and Communications Department.”
The college is directing the faculty to submit queries from the press to the administration, a practice which breaks with previous tradition.
The memo continues on to assure faculty that it encourages faculty members to let them know when they are quoted so their articles can be saved. It names two main administrative officials, including the Vice President for Institutional Advancement Dolores Swirin-Yao as persons to contact with media requests.
But it then warns faculty members that “sometimes a reporter will pressure the individual he or she has called to give a statement, either just because of deadline pressure or because the writer wants to elicit a quote that will not depict York in the best possible light. Please be politely firm in saying that you are not authorized to speak with the press without the coordination of the Marketing staff but that you can assure the writer that we will respond promptly.”
It also contends most writers are familiar with this vetting procedure, which is typical in both for-profit and educational settings.
The memorandum was issued after two women from southeast Queens, including a one-time York student, were arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack. Pandora’s Box, the student newspaper, had undertaken an ambitious project on sexual harassment at York over the past few months.
The new policy has faculty members worried for their constitutional rights. “As a voice of the union, I don’t like this policy. I think it is excessive,” said Professor Scott Sheidlower, who is also chapter chair of Professional Staff Congress the union that represents more than 25,000 CUNY faculty and staff. “Faculty have two lives; we are faculty members and we are also regular people. We should be able to answer questions like how do you feel about the U.S. president? There are all sorts of things I could think about that have nothing to do with York College.”
The policy applies to any reporter from print, television, radio and/or Internet including student publications. Pandora’s Box, which has been publishing since 1968, wrote an editorial in response to the media policy that applies to their staff members as well.
“In a time when the largest generation in America cares about government accountability and transparency, the college needs to address student concerns by giving out as much information as possible, not by limiting and spinning whatever information may seep out,” it said.
“It is legal, but sketchy at best,” said Adam Goldstein, attorney from the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. “It isn’t the greatest policy. There is no way that they can enforce this on a third party and it is more typical for a private corporation to have this type of policy. If anything, it is an indication of the lack of confidence they have in the program — it’s a justified lack of confidence strictly based on their own perception of their college.”
CUNY did not respond for a comment by presstime, but York College issued a statement that said the policy was still under review.
“The policy is being held in abeyance, subject to further review. York College will continue its practice of working collaboratively with respect to media requests while ensuring coordination through its Marketing and Communications Department to help assure the accuracy of responses.”
Goldstein also mentioned that it could become unconstitutional if they tried to impose any further regulations on the staff.
Reach Reporter Sadef Ali Kully by e-mail at skull
