When students at University of Maryland planned a public screening of "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge," a hard-core porn film, they weren't expecting Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R) to threaten to pull close to half a billion in state funding.
"Pornography is not fun. It's poison," Harris said, according to washingtonpost.com.
Though an administrator canceled the event, other schools like the University of California at Los Angeles, Carnegie Mellon and Northwestern Universities have had administrative-approval for showing XXX-rated films on campus.
Whitworth's most recent public stance towards pornography was in a message from President Bill Robinson in 2001. The President's message addressed his decision to implement an internet filtering system in response to the issue of pornography on campus.
"I'm not the authoritarian unilateral type but I decided to make the decision," Robinson said. "I felt it was my responsibility to make the decision."
Because Whitworth is a private institution, students forfeit their Constitutional rights by attending. And because the Constitution protects individual liberties from government obstructions, individuals are not protected under private organizations by the Constitution.
If students at a private institution feel their rights are too limited, the institution's student handbook is what they need to refer to, not the Constitution, said Julia Stronks, political science professor and Constitutional law expert.
"It becomes a matter of contract, not Constitutional rights -- how has the school presented itself to the students who have paid to come here," Stronks said.
In other words, universities must grant the rights promised in their contracts and student policies.
"Private universities are free within the law to define their own missions, and some choose to restrict academic freedom on behalf of this or that religious or particular agenda," according to Foundation of Individual Rights in Education's Guide to Free Speech on Campus.
Legally viewing "merely pornographic" or indecent material is protected under the First Amendment but obscenity is not.
However, courts have not found it easy in telling the difference between what is obscene and what is merely pornographic, according to FIRE.
When President Bill Robinson introduced the idea of implementing a Internet filter on campus, there were mixed opinions from both students and faculty.
Kathy Storm, vice president of student life, said the decision to filter pornography was based on the idea that it distracts and detracts from the educational experience rather than the reverse.
Because the decision to add a filter was partly due to the idea that pornography detracts from the educational mission at Whitworth, Robinson acknowledged the power administrators have to filter a variety of things they deemed a distraction to education.
"Certainly, the possibility exists. But thats not our intent. we try to be sensitive to students who have particular challenges in those areas," Robinson said.
In a previous Whitworthian article, Bill was quoted saying "I find it very dangerous to take any choice, even a bad one, out of the hands of people. Ultimately I concluded that the decision to filter did not eliminate choice."
Robinson said by allowing some computers to be unimpeded by the filter in the library changes the issue of choice to convenience. Robinson also said some of the students struggling with porn felt they had lost their choice.
"They felt gripped and addicted," Robinson said. "We felt in some way that we were helping them restore choice.
Though the decision to add the filter was done so by the president, Robinson and Storm both expressed the importance of community dialogue and input when making decisions that impact the entire campus.
"At a school [like] Whitworth, these decisions are best made in a community environment with a lot of discussion," Stronks said. "I think the way we handled 'The Vagina Monologues' is a great example of higher education coming together, taking a difficult issue, using it as a teaching moment and learning about it."
Attempts to bring "The Vagina Monologues" to campus have been made on several occasions without success in the past. Though the event was initially postponed, it was later set into motion.
"We're lucky to have the president that we do here, frankly," said Jim McPherson, associate professor of communications studies. "Administrators here are generally supportive of free speech."
Click here to read the rest of the series on pornography at Whitworth.
Contact Yong Kim at yong.kim@whitworthian.com.
Read more:
-Internet filter made to lower students’ access to explicit Web sites
-Student, faculty member assess effectiveness of Internet filter
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