The Lafayette is pleased to announce that, after last week’s budget cut, Student Government decided to restore our budget in full. We thank the involved parties for hearing our concerns at last week’s office hours and deciding to allocate the funding we requested, but this uncertainty over the newspaper’s future is something that will remain after each budget request. The way that The Lafayette is funded needs to change.
The Lafayette has historically existed independently of any apparatus of the college. Until 2004, The Lafayette sustained itself with an off-campus bank account in violation of college policy, and by 2015, the account was drained under the direct order of the college. Between 2004 and 2015, The Lafayette became increasingly dependent on Student Government. Finally, in 2015 Student Government voted against allocating funds great enough to keep the newspaper afloat. The college and the Student Government eventually agreed to jointly fund the paper until the end of the 2014-2015 academic year, with Student Government taking over as the sole source of funds for The Lafayette from fall 2015 onward.
Then, as was the case last week, Student Government questioned the value of The Lafayette to the campus community when determining how much funding to allocate to Pennsylvania’s oldest college newspaper. Faculty, students and staff, both last week and in 2015, have attested to The Lafayette’s immense contribution to campus, but this value has not promised a future for the newspaper.
Such budget disputes cannot keep impeding the work of The Lafayette. No newspaper wanting to call itself independent can be so dependent for funding on Student Government – an institution it ought to report on critically.
It is for these reasons that we are looking for alternative funding options for The Lafayette.
We ask that the Lafayette College administration work towards allowing The Lafayette autonomy when it comes to its funding.
Sincerely,
The Lafayette Editorial Board
Chris Wain • Nov 12, 2022 at 12:33 am
Congratulations on dodging this bullet. Funding by Student Council (and then Student Government) was a challenge during my term as Editor-in-Chief as well. Funding was resisted occasionally because of objections to the editorial voice (too liberal, too conservative, etc) or the quality of the coverage. But it’s exciting to see how The Lafayette has evolved from then until now. Keep up the good work!
Chris Wain ’73