Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis recently canceled its ‘Introduction to Bondage’ workshop after The Indiana Commons wrote about the event, resulting in backlash online and coverage by Libs of TikTok, the New York Post, Brietbart, Campus Reform and others. However, the school appeared more concerned about public relations than transparency, protection of their students or of freedom of the press, as they blacklisted the editorial staff of The Indiana Commons as a result of the story (Photo Credit: Campus Reform).
Campus Reform correspondent Emma Arns obtained an email from the school in which Dr. Eric Weldy, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, said our former editor-in-chief is ‘not someone who can be trusted’ and discouraged faculty and staff from speaking with him. Weldy also referred to The Indiana Commons as an ‘illegitimate’ news publication.
We leave it to the readers to decide whether sharing the facts about an event makes a publication illegitimate.
Read the full story, which includes a response by our editor-in-chief, here.
“I have never had the privilege of interacting with Dr. Weldy, so I’m curious to know what about The Indiana Commons makes it illegitimate in his eyes, and what about me as a person he finds untrustworthy,” editor-in-chief Jacob Stewart told Campus Reform. “My journalism has been nothing but factual.”
“My experience at IUPUI has taught me that a good leader is someone who takes responsibility for his actions,” Stewart went on. “It’s disappointing to see that someone elevated to such a high status in the university would not only fail to ensure transparency about such a ridiculously irresponsible event (paid for by student fees), but also choose to malign a student as biased and blame them for simply sharing the facts that he should have.”
[RELATED: The Indiana Commons wins legal victory for free speech]
Update: a subsequent investigative series uncovered ties between the event and local organizations involved in promoting prostitution and covering up cases of sexual assault.
The Indiana Commons is an independent student news publication centered at IU-Indianapolis. The editorial board is grateful to Campus Reform for continuing to follow-up on this story.
Very smart move by IU Indianapolis administration! I read a lot of the articles on this site and it seems like there is very clearly a right-wing and pro-religion bias. It’s fine to have that bias if you do but I think it is important for this newspaper to be honest and upfront about it as well because most of the articles do seem to be fairly one-sided and have a very clear bias that can even be percieved as insensitive from a large group of people.
Just some constructive criticism. Hope you all see it that way.
Appreciate it, Nathan. Like every other media publication, our news focus aligns with our mission statement, which in our case, is based on the Christian social tradition. That being said, we pride ourselves on factual reporting. If you see any errors, please let me know.
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”