It’s an undeniable fact that sex is a part of college life. It’s on most students’ minds, even if they’re not doing it. But at Central New Mexico Community College, it’s not acceptable to even talk about it.
The college suspended its award-winning student newspaper, the CNM Chronicle, after it published an issue on sex. According to the administration, the issue, which included stories about sexual positions, BDSM, LGBT issues and abstinence, was “offensive and not appropriate for the educational mission of CNM.” But after backlash from students and the community, CMN President Katharine Winograd claimed the real concern was that the issue featured a minor, a 17-year-old high school student, who said she was abstinent.
Winograd’s assertion is disingenuous, considering how the appearance of a minor’s name in a publication with their consent is not illegal, as long as the information is honestly reported and lawfully obtained, as verified by the Student Press Law Center. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief had also obtained parental permission.
The real reason for suspension, disappointingly, is that the CNM college administration maintains an oversensitivity to sex. The school converted a fundamental aspect of human nature into a hig-hly charged issue.
Of course, the college administration reserves the right to suspend the student newspaper over inappropriate or mishandled content if warranted. The school’s name is attached to every edition, and CNM officials must be wary of publishing opinions that will affect the school and the paper’s reputation.
The question is not whether the school has the right to suspend the paper, but what material should demand such action. Those who call this a freedom of the press issue must recognize that this applies to government censorship, not private institutions.
In this case, the CNM administration was not justified in suspending the Chronicle. The issue was not offensive to any specific racial or sexual group, only to people who are afraid to talk — or read — about sex openly. The student newspaper staff addressed the topic conversationally, with the intent to make its readers more comfortable with discussing intimacy and sexuality.
The WSN Editorial Board supports any student publication that attempts to improve discourse on delicate topics that can have major consequences for all students.
Email the WSN Editorial Board at [email protected].
