After not being able to get the story straight about why copies of The Daily Free Press that feature stories on the alleged ‘Craigslist killer,’ suspended second year Boston University School of Medicine Philip Markoff, have not been displayed in the Admissions Reception Center, the truth is finally revealed: this is no isolated incident. The Admission’s Office choice to hide Free Press issues that reflect negatively on the university is highly unethical and must be stopped.
BU seems to have no problem touting The Free Press on the university’s Student Central website, yet it is undermining the purpose of the newspaper when it selectively puts out issues in the Admissions Office based on how favorable they are toward BU. The university has plenty of media vehicles to express its side of the story if the administrators think The Free Press is misrepresenting its positions. Now that The Boston Globe is no longer freely distributed on campus, only The Free Press is left as a daily independent news source to which students, faculty and prospective students have free access. By hiding this newspaper, it only makes it seem as though BU has something to hide itself. The rationale for withholding issues about Philip Markoff in the Admissions Office is inexplicable. It is ridiculous for BU to think that news of Philip Markoff’s arraignment or suspension is somehow going to deter prospective students from attending BU.’
The administration may not be doing anything to violate the Clery Act, which mandates that any university participating in federal financial aid programs must disclose crime on campus to the public, in the eyes of the law. But by censoring last week’s newspapers in the Admissions Office that were covering a crime of national interest on BU’s campus, BU is blatantly going against everything the act represents.
BU’s decision to censor anything negative about the university from prospective students can only backfire. The presence of a daily independent newspaper on campus can be, and should be, a big draw for students who are considering attending BU. These prospective students are going to be put off by an administration that is paranoid about getting bad press and the effect that press could have on applicants and accepted students.
BU can continue showing prospective students only the rosy side of a university obsessed with having a good public relations strategy. Or it can show these prospective students that a university can still thrive while having its power checked by an active student media.’ BU just might be surprised as to what prospective students find more attractive.
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