Condom article and backlash at SUU
Earlier this month, the student newspaper at Southern Utah University ran an article criticizing the university's restrictive policy on condom distribution at the student health center. The same issue included an editorial entitled "Sex happens, even at SUU" criticizing the policy. The article and editorial caused an uproar at SUU. The university's president blasted the "offensive graphics, questionable headline and one-sided article" and "the Journal's poor taste and bad judgment." A university trustee, the brother of Utah's governor, also blasted the newspaper and its faculty advisor. The chairman of the school's communications department criticized the president's and trustee's aggressive responses: "I see this as micromanagement, and the federal courts see it as censorship. The chilling effect already placed on SUU faculty, staff and students over the last two weeks is de facto censorship." The president and trustee both deny any attempt at intimidation or censorship. The newspaper's editors and a newly formed Student Association for Free Expression are requesting the administration make clear its position on censorship of student-run media.
