Appel condemns seizure of Newman's Day shirts

Computer science professor Andrew Appel introduced a resolution at Monday's faculty meeting crticizing Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan's decision to confiscate nearly 400 Newman's Day shirts from a student dorm room Friday.

"Censorship of speech is repugnant to academic values," the resolution stated. "T-shirts bearing messages are a well-recognized form of speech in our society. The faculty condemns the action Friday, April 23 by the Dean of Undergraduate Students, in which she authorized Public Safety officers to confiscate T-shirts bearing a message that contradicted official University policy."

Several faculty members immediately seconded the introduction of the resolution. Dean of the Faculty David Dobkin then motioned that the resolution be tabled until the next faculty meeting on Monday, May 17.

Appel waived his chance to object to the tabling proposal. He said he did not think administrators had had time to discuss the issue among themselves.

Based on conversations Appel had with other faculty members, he said he thought the resolution would have passed "overwhelmingly" had it come to a vote Monday.

A faculty resolution would not force the University to take any particular action. However, Appel said, it would express the strong sentiment of the faculty on an important issue.

Appel said his feelings regarding the University's actions had nothing to do with the actual message on the shirts, but rather with the larger issue at play.

While Appel is not in favor of binge drinking — the Newman's day tradition is to drink 24 beers in 24 hours — he said the University should not assume it is entitled to a monopoly on speech regarding this or other issues.

The case is simply one of academic freedom, he said.

"This is just censorship of speech, and the University, especially as an academic community that values academic freedom, should not be censoring speech," he said. "The confiscation of printed materials before they can be distributed constitutes prior restraint which is a very severe form of censorship."

He said this sort of preemptive action should not be a part of University policy.

Taylor Bright '05, a resident of the 1901 Hall suite from which the shirts were taken, said he was "pleasantly surprised" that members of the faculty had weighed in on this side of the debate, and that he was even more surprised they did so this quickly.

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Bright said he had originally scheduled a Monday meeting with Deignan to discuss the issue, but that she rescheduled the appointment for Wednesday.

Despite repeated attempts, Deignan could not be reached for comment Monday.

He said he has already received several emails from current students and alumni inquiring about the situation and expressing their support.

According to Bright, Public Safety officers said they were enforcing two separate University policies when they confiscated the shirts on Friday. The first prohibits solicitation on campus, and the second prohibits the promotion of drinking games, he said.