It doesn’t guarantee that campus vandals won’t steal or rip up student publications they find offensive, but the University of Pittsburgh took a small but significant step toward encouraging the proliferation of ideas on campus:
Its student government approved the installation of seven racks for student publications to “increase their visibility on campus,” according to The Pitt News.
Building managers still must approve the placement of the racks, for which nearly $1,500 has already been appropriated by the student government. The dean of students approved two of those racks for placement in the student center and William Pitt Union earlier this week.
There are a few application rules to be approved for rack space – publications with “allocations funding” get preference – but board member Benjamin West promises that the student government won’t discriminate against publications because of their editorial focus:
Otherwise, SGB will remain neutral when deciding which publications receive rack space, the bill said.
West said it is not the Board’s role to judge the merit of each publication.
“We can’t say that this one has better content that this one,” he said.
Students will be able to grab copies of student publications such as the satirical Pittiful News (“Women of color fight to gain equal representation on BuzzFeed lists“) and The Original, a semiannual arts magazine. Each rack has five shelves.
It’s not clear whether Pitt has a conservative student newspaper (a Google search turns up nothing), but this might be a good time to start one.
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