The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: hsu admin

  • Humboldt State Admin attempts to discredit the Lumberjack

    Humboldt State Admin attempts to discredit the Lumberjack

    ***A Lumberjack editorial represents both the majority opinion of the student newspaper’s editorial board, nine editors, as well as the overwhelming majority of Humboldt State University’s student body. Collectively, an editorial echos, embodies and advocates for community beliefs.***

    Insensitive communications between Humboldt State University administration and student newspaper, the Lumberjack, includes inaccurate accusations and degradation comments directed at the LJ’s reputation. 

    In a letter to the Lumberjack’s editor, Vice President Frank Whitlatch claims the student-paper intentionally printed false information. The letter targets four specific points within the article, “HSU Athletics Department left in dark about SJSU,” by Sports Editor Thomas Lal, published in print on Wed., Oct. 7 and online the following day.

    According to Whitlatch, the four issues within Lal’s article include accuracy, context, claims of purposeful ignorance towards follow-up quotations and headline language. 

    Whitlatch’s claim that Jane Teixeira’s, HSU’s athletic director, was misquoted in regards to the Athletics department’s knowledge of San Jose State University’s arrival is completely inaccurate. The second paragraph of Lal’s article clearly states HSU Athletics was notified late Tues., Sept. 29. 

    “With the notice coming late on Sept. 29, the first chance that the department had to discuss matters was the following day with the Spartans roughly 24 hours away,” Lal wrote in his article.

    The information reported in Lal’s article directly matches the information stated in Whitlatch’s letter to the editor. There is no inaccuracy. Lal, in fact, did not ignore the information as the letter suggests. Whitlatch attempts to use this baseless claim to delegitimize the entire article.

    While the letter states HSU Athletics was not in the dark about the team arriving, our editorial staff does not believe a few hours of advanced notice would significantly impact the department’s ability to prepare for the team’s arrival. 

    Whitlatch attached transcripts from Lal’s meeting with Teixeira in his letter claiming the Lumberjack ignored context surrounding Teixeira’s quote. Cris Jones Koczera, emergency management coordinator, however, further supported the information reported in Lal’s article.

    “It was at the end of the day, on Tuesday [when they found out],” Koczera said in the interview with Lal. “So, by the time we really had an opportunity to get together, start talking about what that meant it was Wednesday first thing, right out the gate.”

    In a Zoom meeting with the Lumberjack editorial staff on Thurs., Oct. 15, Grant Scott-Goforth, HSU’s communications specialist, echoed Koczera’s statements that SJSU’s arrival at HSU was in fact a last-minute affair.

    “The Athletics Directors and our emergency operations team and myself I think found out several hours before the rest of the campus did,” Scott-Goforth said. “So, that was a scramble. I mean, that was a huge scramble.”

    In addition to Scott-Goforth’s confirmation, he claimed the diction used in the Lumberjack’s editorial, “Humboldt State administration cash in at student expense,” was strong, misleading and accusatory language that promoted a Humboldt brand of xenophobic behavior towards students from big cities by stating SJSU was stealing HSU student resources. 

    “I just felt that was a little bit misleading because again you know this is a decision that’s made by the President’s versus the student athletes who are coming here so they could practice but it wasn’t exactly their choice,” Scott-Goforth said. “I grew up in Humboldt County and I feel there’s this weird kind of specific Humboldt County brand of xenophobia that I see over and over again, and often is about HSU students coming from the big cities and it’s a scary thing.”

    Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services was not advised prior to SJSU’s arrival, the Lumberjack was purely reacting to student and community concern regarding health endangerment in the midst of a pandemic, not due SJSU coming from a more populous county.

    The Lumberjack is an independent news organization. We have enjoyed a healthy, working relationship with the HSU Athletics Department and would never purposefully ignore facts provided in an interview. Implying that we would attempt to mislead our readers is entirely incorrect and harmful to the reputation of this publication and its reporters. 

    Through a very complex set of circumstances, the Lumberjack has aimed to provide the most accurate information available to students and the community while working with Athletics to obtain that information.

    As a part of the California State University system, Humboldt State is subject to the same rules and limitations as other public universities. This includes court cases that set a precedent for the protection of student produced media under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

    By publishing your letter to the editor, we have maintained our position as a public forum by allowing a fair and open space for all to voice their opinion.

    While the Lumberjack may receive funding from the university, like many student-run programs on this campus, Bazaar v. Fortune, 489 F.2d 225 (5th Cir. 1973) ruled this does not grant the administration the right nor the permission to control the contents of the campus paper. 

    In addition, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District 393 U.S. 503 (1969) ruled that actions of censorship cannot be taken against a paper for content unless the school can prove the content would “materially and substantially interfere” with operations.

    Like any other publication, the Lumberjack is protected as a member of the free press. Our duty is to serve the interests of our students and surrounding community by informing them with timely and accurately reported information. While the HSU administration may take issue with our editorial, we stand by our position and how it accurately represents the voices of HSU’s student body.

    We will not be retracting our story and will continue to support the efforts our reporters make to ensure the voices of the student press on this campus are not silenced, censored or intimidated.

  • University administration failed to notify students of white supremacists on campus

    University administration failed to notify students of white supremacists on campus

    By Tony Wallin and Freddy Brewster

    College campuses nationwide targeted with white nationalist posters

    IMG-9710.JPG
    Stickers representing the white nationalist hate group, Identity Evuropa, were found on the campus of CSU San Marcos the same week as posters reading “its okay to be white” on Humboldt State’s campus in Oct 2018. Courtesy of CSU San Marcos.

    On Nov. 1, 2018 unpermitted fliers were hung throughout HSU’s campus stating “it’s okay to be white,” which were part of a nationwide recruitment effort by white nationalist groups. The incident prompted UPD to patrol the campus tearing down the fliers and looking for any of the individuals responsible. The incident went unreported by the university administration and left some students worried and confused as to what was happening.

    “At that moment, all of us were on edge and upset that that was going on and we weren’t told about it until the end of the day,” said Laura Garcia, a junior majoring in social work. “I am Mexican and was pretty on edge and scared.”

    Garcia gathered over 30 signatures from students who were upset over the lack of attention the incident received and submitted them along with a prepared statement to the University Senate on Nov.13, 2018. Garcia’s statement outlined the group’s frustrations about being kept in the dark about the potential danger to their lives and demands for more safe spaces for students of color.

    “They didn’t do enough and they still haven’t told the students about it,” Garcia said. “I feel like we should have got an email like ones that go out when a student dies. I was waiting all that weekend to get an email but didn’t get anything. It is rude that we didn’t get anything. What if something happened?”

    According to the minutes from the University Senate meeting on Nov. 13, 2018, University Police Chief Donn Peterson “reported that some fliers… had recently been posted around HSU by a person or persons who, based on their attire, are potentially white nationalist(s) or white supremacist(s).” The fliers, and the lack of university response, are yet another issue on campus where some students of color feel let down by the current administration.

    “When the next group got up I realized that this is a recurring topic and issue,” Garcia said. “I knew it was an issue before with Josiah. They said it is an inclusive school, but it is not.”

    According to the minutes from the senate meeting, University Senator Jeffrey Dunk, a professor of environmental science and management, acknowledged a Washington Post article that stated “the intent of the fliers is to stir up trouble and recruit white nationalists.” Despite the acknowledgement of the intent of the fliers, HSU administration still failed to notify students, unlike other universities.

    IMG-9706.JPG
    Stickers representing the white nationalist hate group, Identity Evuropa, were found on the campus of CSU San Marcos the same week as posters reading “its okay to be white” on Humboldt State’s campus in Oct 2018. Courtesy of CSU San Marcos.

    CSU San Marcos had similar posters spread across their campus that bore only a logo that represents Identity Evuropa; a white nationalist organization deemed by Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group on the “forefront of the racist ‘alt-right’s’ effort to recruit white, college-aged men and transform them into the fashionable new face of white nationalism.”

    Margaret Chantung, Associate Vice President of communications at San Marcos, said this wasn’t the first time racist advertisements were found on campus. Chantung said the President of San Marcos made the decision to release a statement across the campus the morning the posters were found to inform their student population of the incident, unlike HSU administration.

    “This came across the heel of national events where people had the sense of ‘What is happening here?’ like two shootings of African Americans and the Tree of Life shooting and we were already going to send out a solidarity message about that,” Chantung said. “I know every campus has issues with these occurrences and we aren’t unique to this.”

    Chantung said at 8 a.m. the posters were found by a staff member who then brought it up their boss and then University Police. Both the President and University Police at San Marcos felt it necessary to issue out a statement as soon as possible.

    “There was a national conversation already happening about hate and bias and for us [issuing a statement] felt like the right thing to do,” Chantung said. “From our President’s perspective it was important to her to condemn the message being spread across the campus. We wanted to make sure the campus knew we condemn anything that promotes racism, antisemitism, violence, homophobia and any kind of discrimination.”