John K. Wilson
Inside Higher Ed
During this era of growing censorship on campus and administrative concern about the public reputation of universities, student newspapers are an essential independent voice. The national outrage over Cornell University’s mishandling of an alleged gang rape on campus has been led by The Cornell Daily Sun’s important coverage of the case. Editor in Chief Sophia Dasser told The New York Times, “The office that you sit in is obviously off campus, and that’s for a reason.”
But the Daily Sun’s total financial and building independence from the university makes it almost a unicorn among the declining number of campus newspapers, many of which struggle to remain in print. Financial independence is a luxury few campus papers can afford. That makes it more important than ever for university policies and practices to protect freedom of the press.
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