The Hampton Script Needs Independence

By Lauren Bayne Anderson
Black College Wire

Hampton Script (click photo to enlarge)

There comes a time when there's no more room for talk -- just action. That time has come at Hampton University.

On Oct. 22, Hampton's acting president, JoAnn W. Haysbert, seized 6,500 copies of the university's student newspaper, The Hampton Script, after the editor refused to run a letter authored by Haysbert on the front page. The letter commended the dining services on the university's most recent health inspection.

Haysbert is acting president while President William R. Harvey is on sabbatical. Previously, the university made news after it violated 30 health-code provisions, seven of which were considered "critical." Since March, the cafeteria has been cited for 102 violations in four investigations, according to the Black College Wire.

"Students complained about seeing dead flies in dinner plates and roaches crawling across salad bars and from under plates. One student witnessed a roach trapped in the plastic wrap covering a cup of pudding," the Black College Wire story said.

The Hampton University administration showed a disregard for the First Amendment when it confiscated the newspapers. Furthermore, it alienated supporters of the university's journalism school.

Judith Clabes, president of the Scripps Howard Foundation, which funded the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, e-mailed the journalism department director in support of the students.

And at least two grant sources, the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, were said to be questioning whether to continue donating to the school, according to "Richard Prince's Journal-isms".

Unfortunately, Hampton's situation is nothing new. The university is notorious for censoring The Script-- and has been known to read copy before the paper is sent to press.

According to "Journal-isms," last year, Professor Charlotte Grimes left Hampton after President Harvey told her that a mission statement for the school "should reflect his view that journalism is 'to do good, not muckraking.'" Grimes said, "there were fundamental differences between me and [Harvey] over the mission, the vision and what we should teach and my role in it."

Christopher Campbell, the journalism department director, was quoted in "Journal-isms" as saying that the action by the university "points out the need for independent newspapers at private universities."

Students at many universities have founded independent student newspapers, including those at Harvard and the University of Maryland.

Even though Howard University does not censor The Hilltop, a number of Howard students founded the District Chronicles, the only independent student newspaper at an HBCU.

The time has come for the students at Hampton to do the same. While it's wrong for the university to censor the newspaper, under the current setup the Hampton administration holds that right.

And unfortunately, the administration has proved that it will not allow the students to practice free speech. Instead of allowing The Script to serve its purpose as the student voice of Hampton, it is attempting to use the publication as its own personal public-relations rag.

The Hampton administration is not only hurting its journalism program and the university's image, it's hurting the students, who have little practice in using their First Amendment freedoms -- which is critical to their development as professional journalists.

The newspaper confiscation also hurts the plight of black journalists in general.

In a letter to Haysbert from the National Association of Black Journalists, President Herbert Lowe said, "NABJ's number one goal is to diversify newsrooms. That quest is undeniably hurt when newsroom recruiters can for any reason question whether true journalism is taught at the institutions that produce so many black journalism graduates."

These actions involving the student newspaper, coupled with the history of interference on the part of the administration, show once and for all that it's time for The Script to go independent.

The sponsors, instead of pulling away from the university completely, should instead, offer their funding to The Script.

Let the situation at Hampton set an example for student newspapers everywhere, especially HBCUs, where censorship runs rampant.

And let the journalism community, from the Society of Professional Journalists to other student newspapers, in solidarity, help The Script attain its goal.

At Hampton, the time for talking has come and gone -- it's now time for action.

Lauren Bayne Anderson is a senior journalism major at Howard University and former editor-in-chief of The Hilltop. She can be reached at [email protected].

Posted Oct. 28, 2003