University Accused of Cutting Funding to Paper That Criticized #BlackLivesMatter

The student government of Wesleyan University has been accused of voting to reduce the funding of a campus newspaper after #BlackLivesMatter activists called for a boycott of the paper.

The Wesleyan Argus published an op-ed from a conservative student in September that was critical of many elements of the #BlackLivesMatter movement. In response, black students (and some staff members) circulated a petition agreeing to boycott and trash copies of The Argus until “funds to The Argus from the Wesleyan Student Assembly are revoked.”

On Sunday, the Student Assembly voted to “reduce paper waste” by “significantly cutting the amount of paper copies of the Wesleyan Argus prints.” While the Assembly maintains that they did not actually cut The Argus’ budget, its editors tell Reason that they expect their funding to be cut by $15,000 and an Argus editorial reports that the cut represents 57% of their budget..

The Argus, for its part, has been fundraising off the attempts to cut their funding. “Recently, a petition was brought against The Argus calling for the Student Budget Committee, a subset of the Wesleyan Student Assembly, to revoke The Argus‘ funding as a result of the publication of an unpopular op-ed. If the petition is turned into a WSA resolution and that resolution passes, The Argus will lose all or most of its funding, and quite possibly its editorial autonomy,” the donation appeal reads.

[h/t Reason]

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