Publications Compromise
Ownership of The Dartmouth Vested in Eleven-Man Board, Seven Directorate Members Preserving Student Control
THE QUESTION "Who shall own The Dartmouth?", which has been the basis for controversy ever since the Committee on Student Publications brought in its report last May, was definitely settled on February 13 when the Arbitration Committee made public a compromise solution which automatically goes into effect. Control of the publication will hereafter be vested in a board of eleven proprietors, seven of whom will be top- ranking members of the news and business boards of The Dartmouth, and the other four of whom will represent Palaeopitus, the faculty, the administration and the alumni. The alumni member will be named by the Alumni Council and, like the faculty and administrative members, will serve for three years.
This recommendation, reported to President Hopkins by The Arbitration Committee of Chairman Maurice S. Sherman '94, editor of The Hartford Courant, Dean Robert C. Strong '24, and O'Brien Boldt '39, retired editor of The Dartmouth, is assured the automatic acceptance of the Board of Trustees of the College, since the controversial clauses of the Publications Report were referred to the Committee with the proviso that "such decisions as might be reached would be accepted by the Board, supplementary to its acceptance of the report of the Committee on Student Publications at all other points." Negotiations have already begun toward dissolving the present corporation of The Dartmouth and putting the arbitration recommendations into effect as soon as possible.
In addition to its major recommendations with regard to The Dartmouth, the Arbitration Committee also proposed that ownership of Jack-o-Lantern be vested in a similar but smaller board of proprietors composed of four members of the undergraduate news and business directorates, a business officer of the College, and an alumnus appointed by the Alumni Council. For the Pictorial the Committee recommended periodic meetings between the officers of the magazine and a business officer of the College.
From Palm Beach, where he has taken a house for the winter season, President Hopins wired his acceptance of the Arbitration Report, expressing appreciation of the President and Board of Trustees for the labors of the Committee and also expressing his own conviction that the report conserves the interests and protects the rights of all concerned.
The full report of the Arbitration Committee follows: January 25, 1939. Dr. Ernest Martin Hopkins President, Dartmouth College
Dear Mr. President: The Board of Arbitration, to which the Trustees of the College on October 26, 1938, voted to refer the controversial points of the report of the Committee on Student Publications created by the Trustees at their meeting on June 10, 1937, which report was accepted on June 16, 1938, with an expression of appreciation to the Committee for its work and laid on the table for further consideration, held three sessions at Hanover on January 7 and 8, 1939, in the hope of finding a harmonious and constructive solution of the problems presented. This board is happy to report that it was able to devise a plan which it believes will preserve the freedom and independence of the undergraduate publications chiefly concerned, while at the same time serving to remind them of their proper obligations to the College of which they are an inseparable part.
RELATIONSHIP WITH COLLEGE
The Dartmouth has long carried an earpiece bearing the legend, "Daily Newspaper of Dartmouth College," and Jack-O-Lantern describes itself as "The Monthly Magazine of Dartmouth College." Thus in the public mind both these publications are directly identified with the College, and their respective directorates would not have it otherwise if they could. Their appeal must of necessity be to the Dartmouth constituency. The obligation of The Dartmouth to the College is specifically recognized, although sometimes lost sight of, in the articles of agreement attending its incorporation, which declare it to be the purpose of the publication "To record therein authentic Dartmouth events, and through its editorial columns to express current student opinion, and to mould student sentiment along lines that shall harmonize with the administrative functions of the College." Here, then, is a frank acknowledgment of the relationship existing between this daily newspaper and the College, a relationship that exists in varying degrees between other undergraduate publications and the College. None, obviously, can be a law unto itself to the neglect of its responsibilities to the institution that provides the field for its activities.
The report of the Committee on Student Publications sought to find an answer to the fundamental question of wherein should lie the proprietorship of these publications, especially with reference to TheDartmouth and the Jack-O-Lantern, the conduct of which has not infrequently been open to justifiable criticism by the college authorities and the alumni. One, at least, of the recommendations made by the Committee gave rise to fear on the part of the publications that it would subject them to a form of censorship inconsistent with the proper freedom of the press. We are convinced, Mr. President, that the Committee actually had no such thought in mind, although its proposal may have seemed to foster that idea. In view of your own testimony before the Committee, as recorded in its report, it seems clear to us that you frown on censorship as a remedy for the abuses of privilege complained of, and we think the Committee was, in real- ity, in substantial agreement with you. Nevertheless, it seems to us that there are features in the plan it recommended that might easily lend themselves to an arbitrary course of action at variance with the policies of sound liberalism that have long been associated in the public mind with Dartmouth.
Not only direct but implied power of censorship is conveyed in the suggestion that the President should appoint an alumni trustee who would hold all or a controlling part of the corporate stock of The Dartmouth in trust for the Trustees of the College, and that he should have the right, "at any time for reasons that seem good to him to remove any member of the editorial or business boards." It should be borne in mind that every grant of such authority carries the power to make it ef- fective. We think the Committee did not visualize the selection of an alumni trustee who would be in the least disposed to exercise the powers delegated to him, but they would stand, nevertheless, as a constant threat over The Dartmouth well calculated to make it insipid lest it offend in giving adequate expression to "current student opinion." We can appreciate the natural resentment of those who issue the various undergraduate publications to this proposal. The Committee was desirous, apparently, of insuring to the College "stability and responsibility" in the conduct of the undergraduate press, and we absolve it of intentionally seeking such stability through the dubious device of censorship. Further- more, we wish to commend the Committee for going so thoroughly into the problems presented by these student publications and for making so many pertinent recommendations.
But in inveighing against this particular phase of the report of the Committee, some of the protestants seem to entertain an exaggerated notion of what constitutes the freedom of the press. That freedom does not, of course, permit the publication of blasphemies, obscenities, and indecencies. It does not absolve a publication from the laws of libel. It does not excuse the failure to seek correct information from responsible sources. It does not justify the twisting of facts with a conscious intent to deceive. Keeping good faith with the reader is the foundation of all journalism worthy of the name. This means, above all else, that a newspaper is constrained to be truthful and accurate. Generally speaking, a.newspaper to be successful must be satisfactory to the public it serves, and in the case of The Dartmouth that means its college constituency, which may be presumed to have a high order of intelligence. Freedom of the press, like the freedom of the individual, cannot be exercised without due regard for the rights of others. Duties, obligations and responsibilities belong to the press fully as much as its vital right of freedom to serve its conceptions of what constitutes the public interest. There is ample room in college publications for originality of expression, but there should be no room for that which is offensive to good taste. A good general rule for college journalists is to write as gentlemen should write.
All of the foregoing may be said to constitute the essential considerations that have led this Board of Arbitration to make the following recommendations with respect to The Dartmouth'. (1) That the existing corporation created under the laws of the State of Maine be dissolved and that the ownership of the publication be vested in the four top-ranking members of the news directorate, the three top-ranking members of the business directorate, a member of the college faculty to be designated by the faculty, an administrative officer of the College to be appointed by the President, a member of Palaeopitus to be chosen by Palaeopitus, and an alumnus to be named by the Alumni Council, who preferably shall be a recent graduate who has served on the news directorate of The Dartmouth.
(a) That the faculty, administration and alumni members of the board serve for three years each, one term expiring each year to insure continuity of experience.
(3) That the faculty, administration, alumni and Palaeopitus members shall not participate in any profits that may accrue to the enterprise.
(4) That the section of the report of the Committee on Student Publications relating to an audit of the publication's financial affairs, the distribution of profits, the amortization of the existing stock payment, and the establishment of a reserve fund be accepted in principle and adjusted to this proposed plan of proprietorship.
(5) That the President and Trustees of Dartmouth College take such steps with the officers of "The Dartmouth, Incorporated" as are necessary to dissolve the existing corporation and put the foregoing plan into effect by reorganizing under a new charter with the proprietors as prescribed in recommendation number 1 as the stock- holders on an equal basis.
It is our belief that the arrangement here suggested will overcome the main objections that have been raised to the report of the Committee on Student Publications, that it will keep the control of The Dartmouth in the hands of its editorial and business directorates yet provide them a ready means of obtaining friendly counsel with respect to the best interests of the College. It should afford a sufficient check on excesses of journalistic .zeal and insure a satisfactory handling of the financial affairs of the publication. It will be seen that under this plan the seven members of TheDartmouth directorate are in a position to out-vote the other four members, yet because of this there should be no fear that the freedom of the press will be abused, since in the final analysis the Trustees of the College have, as they always have had, full power to suspend the publication temporarily or abolish it entirely.
JACK-O-LANTERN
The situation with respect to Jack-O-Lantern is adequately presented in the report of the Committee on Student Publications, but here, as in the case of The Dartmouth, we recommend a different form of proprietorship from that now existing, in order that the editorial and the business management may be brought in closer touch with the interests of the College and be better able thereby to allay some of the criticisms that have been justifiably leveled at the publication. Probably Jack-O-Lantern is no more offensive to good taste than are other college magazines of similar character, but that is no reason why a serious effort should not be made to improve its standards. In the public mind it is directly associated with Dartmouth College and therefore it should be careful not to publish matter of any sort, however humorously intended, that violates the commonly accepted canons of decency. If the deadly hand of censorship should be laid on Jack-O-Lantern it would soon become utterly inane, if it did not, indeed, cease to exist. Believing that there is a field for this magazine that can be cultivated by the student body to advantage, while still giving the publication all the freedom of expression that it properly should have, we make these recommendations:
(1) That the proprietorship of Jack-O-Lantern be vested in the editor, the art editor, the business manager and the national advertising manager, a business officer of the College designated by the President, and an alumnus appointed by the Alumni Council, who preferably shall be one who has served on the directorate of the publication.
(2) That the business officer of the College and the alumni member shall not participate in any profits that may accrue to the enterprise.
(3) That an adequate system of auditing and accounting be set up, and we approve in principle the recommendations contained in the report of the Committee on Student Publications as to the distribution of profits, the building up of a reserve fund, the appraisal of the physical property with due allowance for depreciation, and that the report concerning these and kindred financial matters be submitted to the Board of Proprietors for appropriate action.
(4) That we leave to the Board of Proprietors the question of whether or not Jack-O-Lantern should be incorporated.
THE DARTMOUTH PICTORIAL
We find that The Pictorial presents no particular problem at this time beyond the question of establishing for it sound business practices. We recommend that the editor and business manager confer with a business officer of the College, to be designated by the President, as to proper methods of auditing and accounting and that this group meet at least twice a year to review the financial status of the publication.
Respectfully submitted by the Board of Arbitration
MAURICE S. SHERMAN '94, Chairman ROBERT C. STRONG '24, Dean of Freshmen O'BRIEN BOLDT '39, Editor The Dartmouth
