Funding Cut for Student Newspaper

The editor of the Suffolk Journal, the weekly student newspaper of Suffolk University on Beacon Hill in Boston, said this week she may take legal action against the university's board of trustees for cutting the newspaper's funding for news year.

The university explained the trustees' action in a prepared statement: "The board of trustees voted Wednesday, April 9, to delete funding from the 1980-81 budget for the Suffolk Journal following repeated instances of irresponsible journalism, increasingly bad taste, and poor judgement over an extended period of time."

Charges of Censorship

Editor Ann Hobin called the charges "absurd" and said the University was censoring the newspaper.

"The Journal has proven over the past four years that it is a responsible college newspaper by the numerous awards and national recognition it has received," Hobin said. "Ironically, the day after I received the news about the slashing of funds, the Journal received a first class rating from Associated Collegiate Press," she added.

Hobin said the Journal has strongly advocated student rights and has criticized trustees' secrecy and personal business dealings with the university.

Although courts have prevented administrations of public universities from cutting funds from student newspapers where there is a question of censorship, they frequently have ruled that there is no such First Amendment protection at private universities, such as Suffolk.