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Kansas State Controversy Is About Dissatisfied Customers

By Keener A. Tippin II

Keener A. Tippin II asks, "What good is an adviser if he is not to advise?"

The African proverb that adorns my signature line states: "Only when lions have historians will hunters cease being heroes."

Translation: Unless you have the ability to speak for yourself, to tell your own story, you'll only get one side of the story.

Much in the same manner as Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm used Freedom's Journal to counter racist commentary in the mainstream press, the Black Student Union at Kansas State University wishes to speak for itself.

I read with interest Valerie White's Bill Cosby-esque rant in her "Voices" column, "Black Students Need to Fight Smarter."

Had I not been personally involved with the story, I might have been bamboozled, hoodwinked or led astray. White parrots the same misinformation as many of her journalism colleagues with regard to the reassignment of the adviser of K-State's student newspaper.

The "debacle" with regard to the reassignment of Ron Johnson has nothing to do with denying the student editors of the Collegian the privilege of exercising their First Amendment rights or with the Black Student Union. The decision to reassign Johnson was strictly a personnel issue made by university administrators.

Yes, BSU did hold a rally in April wearing bright orange shirts with the letters "W.W.R.G?" (When Will Ron Go?) and BSU did request the dismissal of Johnson. But while BSU has been adamant in its call for the dismissal of Johnson, the reality is that blacks make up only 3 percent of K-State's population.

Germane to the protest —- supported also by members of the black and the Hispanic faculty and staff organizations -— was the failure of the Collegian to cover the Big 12 Conference on Black Student Government this past February. It was a conference held directly across the street from the newspaper's offices that drew more than 1,000 students of color -— black, Latino, white, Asian -— and their advisers, had national-caliber speakers such as activist Dick Gregory, Susan Taylor of Essence magazine, the Muslim comedian known as Preacher Moss, author and motivational speaker Jonathan Sprinkles and Elaine Brown, former chairwoman of the Black Panther Party.

It generated thousands of dollars in the surrounding communities. And yet this event failed to receive so much as a photo in the Collegian.

The protest, not just by members of Black Student Union, but by a coalition of multicultural students at K-State, was not "rubbish." These were dissatisfied customers holding a business that their student fees support —- the Collegian -— to a higher standard; refusing to take second-class coverage from a newspaper that claims to be the student voice of Kansas State University.

White is correct in her assertion that the editors are to be blamed for the problems with the Collegian. But the editors are only as good as their adviser and instructors. Editors come and go, and our students have been subjected to buck passing and feeble, empty promises to do better. Johnson has been the common denominator during this period.

In the seven years I have been at K-State, little progress has been made to rectify those complaints.

For years, multicultural students have had to endure sub-par coverage and mistakes that journalists should know better than to make. Hispanics have been portrayed in negative illustrations; subtle, juvenile, racially tainted comments permeate the "Campus Fourum"; an administrator was described as working with "colored students"; subjects were asked racially insensitive questions or portrayed in an insensitive light. Under Johnson's 15 years of leadership, this insensitivity has become institutionalized.

The failure to cover the Big 12 Conference was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. Students said enough was enough and took matters into their own hands.

BSU has at no time advocated for a policy that forced the newspaper to cover its activities or prior review, a matter that has been consistently misrepresented.

In truth, that was an opinion expressed by a white male campus administrator during an open forum.

Since BSU raised this issue, the Collegian has made efforts to improve its coverage, such as appointing a multicultural editor. There is still no guarantee these improvements will be lasting.

What these student customers are demanding is not the sort of censorship that alarms journalists. They are demanding accountability rather than flimsy excuses.

I agree that black students could solve the problem of lack of coverage of multicultural students by joining the Collegian staff. But why should they be forced to be the multicultural voice of this campus? Do reporters of color only report on news from their communities in professional newsrooms?

If the environment in the Collegian's newsroom were more inviting and less adversarial, students of color might feel welcome and inclined to be on the staff or acquire the skills to become editors and "serve with distinction."

The continual portrayal of Johnson as a victim in this entire ordeal is nothing short of nauseating.

In the view of many, including the local newspaper, Johnson has been a hands-off adviser -— too much so -— for far too long. It is a common practice for journalism advisers not to be present when the paper is put together, but that is a recipe for student mistakes. Some are serious and many could be prevented with greater guidance in establishing standards and goals. The Collegian, with Johnson as its adviser, has used that recipe to cook up some huge mistakes.

What good is an adviser if he is not to advise?

White is right: In some instances, we as black people do need to fight smarter.

But this is not one of those instances. This protest is not a spur-of-the moment, knee-jerk reaction, but a well-calculated and well-planned course of action by BSU; the first step in a well-thought-out plan of attack.

I applaud the members of the organization for their conviction to take a stand in this matter and say "enough is enough," particularly in a time when student apathy is rampant across the country.

The self-respect they gain knowing that they fought for a cause they believed in is priceless.

Where would we be without the activism of black students during the civil rights movement?

Where would be today if Martin Luther King and others had not conducted their spectacle of protests that some thought ridiculous?

Keener A. Tippin II is the research news and features coordinator in the media relations and marketing office at Kansas State University. He also serves as the adviser to the Black Student Union and is a sports reporter for the Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury .

Posted July 23, 2004