By Harrison Leone
Editor-in-Chief
On April 1, SUNY Buffalo State’s student-run newspaper, The Record, ran an April Fool’s edition. A cursory look at the online edition of the paper at Buffstaterecord.com revealed a funny, tongue-in-cheek and obviously farcical issue, with the title of the paper changed to “The Wrecked”, and a front page expose of Governor Cuomo’s snacking ban.
SUNY Buffalo State’s United Students Government (USG) failed to see the humor and immediately set about sucking levity and free expression out of their campus, as they froze The Record’s budget and ordered that all copies of the paper be “removed from campus tomorrow by 5 p.m.”, according to an email from USG Executive Vice President Emily Leminger. Leminger said in her email that USG had come to this disgustingly disproportionate response because “members of the Buffalo State and surrounding community” were offended. Leminger failed to say which parts of the paper were unacceptable or who exactly deemed them insulting.
Was USG trying to protect the interests of insulted students? If so, the spirit USG may have been commendable, but its execution was dramatically lacking. USG sprinted towards the nuclear option of freezing The Record’s budget, and imperiously demanded the copies of the offending paper be banished. This was not a calculated, reasoned or rational response, and it was not the proper behavior of a student government organization. Issuing a warning or reaching out to the papers’ editors to meditate with the students or staff who took umbrage would have been a more appropriate course of action; at the very least, United Students Government could have informed The Record of which parts of the paper crossed the limits of good taste.
The roll of student government should be to improve the collegiate experience of the students it is supposed to represent, not clog arteries with threats and reactionary punishment. The actions of the USG were knee-jerk, cold and contrary to their purpose of existence. It is an example of a body who enjoys the sensation of expressing power over others, and making sure that the students know who’s in charge and chose to exercise this power by punishing the newspaper on suspicious grounds. This action reeked of an institution dictating simply to dictate, to make itself appear important. College clubs and student life do not represent a fiefdom in which student governments are lord; the relationship should be symbiotic, with student governments empowering their students, not treating them with disrespect and condescension.
As of tonight, following low-intensity social media outrage, USG has chosen to reverse its decision and unfreeze The Record’s budget, according to the group’s Twitter account. Applaud USG for admitting and correcting the mistake, but question the wisdom and intentions that led to that mistake in the first place.
leonehj11@bonaventure.edu
