The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “transparent” as “free from pretense or deceit; easily detected or seen through; readily understood; characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices.”
Long-time readers will remember The Slate’s spring 2019 open letter to President Laurie Carter calling on her to treat The Slate as a legitimate source of information to the community, and not as a public relations arm of the university itself.
We at The Slate held great hopes for positive change following the publication of that letter. President Carter, on many occasions, promised more transparency. External relations promised regular student media briefings with campus sources.
Instead, the student media have found opportunities to pursue stories important to students, faculty and staff are as difficult to find as before.
President Carter’s staff in external relations undermines her well-intentioned commitment to transparency. The media briefings ended after an SU student shot someone in a drug deal gone sour last October and external relations insists on overseeing or approving all information that leaves the university on the administrative side of campus.
Before this administration, The Slate and other students could interview the president and other administrative officials without having someone from external relations sitting in the room. Interviews I have conducted during my tenure at The Slate showed how difficult it is to ask questions and get answers without being interrupted or having someone demand why The Slate is asking for information.
We are constantly directed to send questions via email. Sometimes our questions are answered. Other times, our emails are ignored, or we are promised followup that never comes. When we receive answers to our questions, they often scrape the bare-minimum requirement of acknowledgement.
This problem has escalated so much that I needed to fall back on the Pennsylvania Right to Know (RTK) law at two points during this semester.
Members of The Slate first requested information regarding the cost and timeline of Stewart Hall Nov. 21. After weeks of reporters following up without a meaningful reply, I filed a RTK to obtain the contracts related to the Stewart Hall renovation project.
As it turns out, Stewart Hall was completed within budget at no cost to students. Fantastic! I applaud our administrators for their efforts.
But why did external relations not verify this in November? Why did it take until February to get this public information?
The administration official responsible for RTK requests has been more than helpful in aiding me in my efforts. He has treated me like a professional and helped me understand details about the Stewart Hall renovation project I was not familiar with. This allowed me to get the facts right, and I think this produced a good story, which you can read on A1.
Why, then, must The Slate work through external relations to gain access to these expert sources? Why not allow us to interview sources from the start instead of making us wait weeks on-end for busy schedules to align so a member of external relations can sit-in on an interview and make sure sources do not say the wrong thing?
External relations is attempting to obstruct, frustrate and exhaust student journalists to prevent them from producing stories that operate outside the boundaries of the “Shippensburg University narrative” as set by the university administration.
By openly admitting we have problems at SU, showing the clear steps we are taking to resolve them, and encouraging everyone to tell their side of stories, we can show prospective students and the public that SU takes students’ struggles seriously. After all, quality of character (of people and organizations) rests not in the pretension of perfection but the ability to recognize and address imperfections, and show compassion throughout that process.
SU needs to continue to encourage and support President Carter’s commitment to transparency. It needs to face the facts that it (like every other educational institution in the country) has problems it must recognize. And above all, it needs to cease its sideways attacks on its students’ rights to seek and report information about what is happening on its campus.
This is a public university supported by tax dollars and student tuition. The students have the right to know what is happening on their campus and how their money is being spent.
The Slate is attempting to produce good-faith, fair and balanced coverage of this campus. It is attempting to tell stories not only of the great things this university is accomplishing, but also the stories of conflict, strife and struggle that beset all our paths toward student success. But it cannot do so without transparency from the university itself.
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