whim-mckinney.org

In a move as welcome as it was unexpected, the Penn State Daily Collegian discovered the first amendment just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Last week, the Daily Collegian rejected an ad placed by SheThinks.org, the Campus Project of the Independent Women’s Forum. The ad was to run on Valentine’s Day and called for students to consider the lost art of dating as an alternative to attending yet another performance of the Vagina Monologues. The Daily Collegian said that the ad was “too inflammatory” and “might upset some groups on campus,” but refused to say which groups they thought might take offense.

Then, the day before Valentine’s Day, just a few hours after IWF issued a press release detailing the Daily Collegian’s refusal to run the ad, the Daily Collegian’s business manager, Amy Hibbard, contacted IWF to say that the paper wanted to reconsider “possibly” running the ad.

Hibbard stated that the Daily Collegian wanted “to come to a compromise” and might be willing to run the ad if SheThinks would make some adjustments to it. She even offered to change the copy herself.

When asked the reason for the sudden reconsideration, Hibbard said uncomfortably, “We read the press release.”

After being told that SheThinks would not alter the ad, Hibbard said that she would send it back to the review committee—of which she is a member—for a second look.

A short time later, Hibbard and the committee decided to run the ad. When asked the reason why it had suddenly become acceptable, Hibbard balked. “We wanted to make a compromise and you didn’t want to, so we had to make a decision. We weighed out our options and decided to run it.”

So why did the Daily Collegian get religion? When asked precisely what made the committee come to a compromise of their own and make a different decision a week after rejecting the ad, Hibbard answered quickly, “I really have to get to class.”