It's the ugliest word that can be uttered in a college newsroom. And unfortunately, it's an all too frequent occurrence.
College reporters across the country wake up to find their newspapers snatched from stands, broadcasts barred from airing and their funding slashed by angry student government associations and university officials.
Censorship. It's a blight to all who value the free exchange of words, ideas and perspectives.
Students celebrated the third annual First Amendment Day Sept. 27 on campuses across the country to take note of the freedoms deemed vital by America's founding fathers.
Students at this very moment are locked in legal battles over what they may write and where they may broadcast.
Interested readers only have to go back 22 years to find Elon has a less than perfect record with censorship.
When more than 800 high school students and parents were visiting Elon in 1989, when Nan Perkins, the dean of Admissions and Financial Planning, had two staff members pull every copy of the Nov. 9, 1989 edition of The Pendulum from its stands. The papers were later destroyed. The reasoning behind the blatant act of censorship was a front-page story on drug and alcohol use on Elon's campus.
In a letter to the editor from Perkins in the Nov. 16 edition of the paper, she wrote she felt the information was misleading, did not compare alcohol and drug use at other college campuses and that information in the article would portray the school in a negative light.
The censored edition was reprinted at the university's expense the following week. But as then editor Mindy Schneeberger wrote the money and apology weren't enough.
"If I were to find that the college at which I was looking at had removed newspapers, I certainly would have second thoughts about signing my application," she wrote. "Any college which would even so much as consider infringing the rights of the student press does not deserve my respect or my tuition payment."
Elon is still far from perfect and there are times when information is less than forthcoming. Students should remember that technically there isn't free speech on Elon's private campus, one of the many rights students sign away with their acceptance letter. But our papers have remained on the stands and we can be thankful for that.
While Elon can legally limit our First Amendment rights on its campus it does not mean students, faculty and staff shouldn't demand those same rights. The Elon community must require those in a position of power to right injustices and punish violators of the First Amendment.