The Oregon Commentator, a self-proclaimed conservative campus periodical, has somewhat successfully represented the underrepresented conservative voice at the University for 19 years. Though the newsmagazine is not aligned with a specific political party, it has long taken pride in its right-wing slant, and included wording in its mission statement alluding to it.
But the Supreme Court recently ruled that groups such as the ASUO Programs Finance Committee must maintain “viewpoint neutrality” when allocating student fee money, in order to maintain an open marketplace of ideas on campus. To comply with the ruling, all University groups applying for fees must remove political affiliations from their mission statements, as outlined in the ASUO Green Tape Notebook. During the Jan. 18 Commentator budget hearing, PFC postponed voting on the group’s budget because it found the periodical’s mission statement advocated political views.
Things have obviously changed since the Commentator first adopted its mission statement, and the time has arrived for the publication’s leadership to adapt the statement so the group will be able to continue receiving funding from PFC. This move would allow the publication to promote its conservative philosophy within the pages of its magazine instead of in its mission statement. There is no need to fight this particular battle with PFC when the solution is simple.
To add injury to insult, the Commentator decided to file a grievance with the ASUO Constitution Court against PFC on Jan. 25 after it had appealed PFC’s decision. Filing a grievance in an act of defiance is both childish and a waste of ASUO’s time. All University groups should have knowledge of PFC’s viewpoint neutrality requirement and should know to edit their mission statements to accommodate the committee. Just because the Commentator has had its statement passed by PFC in previous years doesn’t mean it isn’t time to update it.
All student groups that seek budget approval from PFC must adhere to its rules or they risk losing money. Requiring student groups to remove political content from their mission statements is a condition designed to help the PFC maintain the diversity of ideas on campus. The Commentator is an important conservative voice at the University, and it should work with PFC to ensure the publication’s future on campus.