HAMPTON UNIVERSITY'S ACTING PRESIDENT ACCEPTS RECOMMENDATION OF TASK FORCE STUDYING RELATIONSHIP OF SCHOOL AND STUDENT NEWSPAPER

Hampton, VA - Praising a faculty/student task force for “effectively and efficiently carrying out (its) charge”, the acting president of Hampton University, Dr. JoAnn Haysbert, has accepted a series of recommendations regarding the roles of the school, the staff and faculty advisors in the operation of the student newspaper, The Hampton Script.

The 11-member committee, chaired by veteran journalist and Scripps Howard Endowed Professor of Journalism Earl Caldwell and consisting of the student leadership and faculty advisors of The Script, the director of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism at Hampton University, three faculty members outside the journalism school and the special assistant to the president for operations analysis, was appointed in late October following a decision to suspend distribution of one issue of the newspaper. Dr. Haysbert had objected to The Script’s decision not to print a letter from her on the front page. The letter concerned serious health violations which threatened closure of the school cafeteria. Those violations had recently been corrected.

After holding a series of meetings over the course of six weeks, which included a review of operations of student newspapers produced on other campuses, the Task Force made four policy recommendations:

• No administrator, faculty member, student or university affiliated organization will confiscate and/or halt distribution of the Hampton Script.
  
• Student journalists on the staff of The Script have the right to a free press in order to practice their craft in the unfettered fashion envisioned by the framers of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
  
• Oversight and guidance from a faculty advisor (or advisors) with adequate journalistic knowledge and an appreciation and commitment to the Hampton model are necessary.
  
• An Advisory Board be established and empowered to resolve issues between the editors and advisers.

The Task Force recommended that the new policies be adopted by the University and made part of the official guide for publication of the student newspaper. While these four policies will serve as the foundation of The Script’s future operation, the larger value of the Task Force’s work, according to Dr. Haysbert, rests with:

• Its unanimous endorsement by all Task Force members who represented a broad range of academic backgrounds and perspectives.
  
• The establishment of the advisory board which will assist the newspaper in the conduct of its operations and advocate for its interests and well-being.
  
• The creation of a mission statement, which will guide the newspaper to provide the university community with information about the world both inside and outside the University.
  
• Its exemplary resolution process and the enhanced Hampton Model; both of which are worthy of emulation by colleges and universities across the nation.

Dr. Haysbert, in a letter to all Task Force members, accepted all the group’s suggestions and made them effective immediately. “I have learned a great deal from this experience in regard to freedom of the press, especially as it relates to student-managed newspapers,” she wrote. “The work that you have completed and the report you have produced can only help to strengthen the great legacy and tradition that are Hampton University’s.”

The Hampton Script, which publishes every other week when school is in session, is open to participation by all students. In a cover letter that accompanied the report, Earl Caldwell praised that model for its commitment to diversity, saying “it is good and sound and has served the University community well for nearly a century.” In further comments, Caldwell stated that the roles of all individuals involved in the publication of The Script have been strengthened as a result of the University’s adoption of the Task Force’s recommendations. “Now we have clear policies, which require that advisors have adequate journalistic knowledge so they can provide expert training and place responsibility on students to practice high standards of professionalism.”

In her letter to the Task Force, Dr. Haysbert praised the Journalism School, saying that “it offers the best academic and professional journalism preparation one might find at any college or university.” The acting president intends to meet with the entire Task Force when the members return to campus in January following Winter Break “to personally thank them” for their work.