Spring Break
The Liberty sues OSU
OSU Students Alliance claim that their publication is not being treated equally
Rebecca Johnson
Issue date: 10/6/09 Section: News
By Rebecca Johnson
The Daily Barometer
In the next chapter of a controversy that has been years in the making, OSU is being taken to court over the allegation of infringing on a student organization's constitutional rights concerning the distribution of their publication.
The OSU Students Alliance, a conservative-based student organization, is suing Oregon State University over the removal of numerous distribution bins across campus used for the organization's monthly publication, The Liberty.
During the 2009 winter term, OSU removed seven fixed distribution bins they said were in violation of a policy that regulates media publication distribution on campus. The unofficial and unwritten policy confines any off-campus publication bins to an area around the MU.
The only publication exempt from this policy is The Daily Barometer, which the university considers the official campus newspaper.
Will Rogers, executive editor of The Liberty, president of OSU Students Alliance and a senior in mechanical and electrical engineering, who commented on the matter in June, said he believes this is unfair treatment and a form of censorship. He believes The Liberty deserves to be given the same treatment as The Daily Barometer, as it is also a student-run publication.
Rogers had gone to several university officials trying to find a way to have the bins put back, but was told nothing could be done.
Rogers was unable to give a more recent comment and referred all questions to his attorney Heather Hackner, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund.
Hackner said the goal of the OSU Students Alliance is to be given the same rights as other on-campus publications.
"They are not being treated equally. They want to be treated like the other student publications on campus," Hackner said. "They are not asking for special treatment, they just want to have the equal right to put their distribution bins out on the greater part of the campus so that people can read what they write, since their whole purpose is to write for students."
The Daily Barometer
In the next chapter of a controversy that has been years in the making, OSU is being taken to court over the allegation of infringing on a student organization's constitutional rights concerning the distribution of their publication.
The OSU Students Alliance, a conservative-based student organization, is suing Oregon State University over the removal of numerous distribution bins across campus used for the organization's monthly publication, The Liberty.
During the 2009 winter term, OSU removed seven fixed distribution bins they said were in violation of a policy that regulates media publication distribution on campus. The unofficial and unwritten policy confines any off-campus publication bins to an area around the MU.
The only publication exempt from this policy is The Daily Barometer, which the university considers the official campus newspaper.
Will Rogers, executive editor of The Liberty, president of OSU Students Alliance and a senior in mechanical and electrical engineering, who commented on the matter in June, said he believes this is unfair treatment and a form of censorship. He believes The Liberty deserves to be given the same treatment as The Daily Barometer, as it is also a student-run publication.
Rogers had gone to several university officials trying to find a way to have the bins put back, but was told nothing could be done.
Rogers was unable to give a more recent comment and referred all questions to his attorney Heather Hackner, a member of the Alliance Defense Fund.
Hackner said the goal of the OSU Students Alliance is to be given the same rights as other on-campus publications.
"They are not being treated equally. They want to be treated like the other student publications on campus," Hackner said. "They are not asking for special treatment, they just want to have the equal right to put their distribution bins out on the greater part of the campus so that people can read what they write, since their whole purpose is to write for students."
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