Some on faculty praise decision, other scorn it

By PETER MORRISON David Hildebrand wants students to talk, not litigate. The past Faculty Senate chairperson hopes the University's decision to drop the charges against nine students who confiscated nearly 14,000 copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian will begin discussion between black student groups and the University's independent newspaper. Some faculty members agreed that University disputes should be handled through face-to-face negotiation instead of through the legal system. In this respect, some faculty members have agreed with the University's decision to drop the charges. "I've been yelling for years that we should stop thinking about doing things in the judicial system and start talking to each other," Hildebrand said. "And because that seems to be what the decision is, then I can't complain." "I would prefer that [black student leaders and the DP] meet with beer," Hildebrand joked. "This is not something a judicial system can resolve. I'll buy the beer." Others, like History Professor Alan Kors, claim the decision was hypocritical. "If a fraternity had stolen the BGLAD issue of the DP, the fraternity already would be thrown off campus, its members expelled, and the administration would be leading candle light teach-ins on freedom of the press," he said. "What hypocrisy." Ann Matter, the chairperson of the Committee on Open Expression, said her committee "found that the taking of the DP's, if done for the purpose of impeding free thought on campus, was a violation of the spirit of open expression." But, like Hildebrand, she added that "rather than treating everything as a judicial process, we should treat some things as an educational process." In a statement released yesterday, Interim President Claire Fagin and Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson accepted a special faculty judicial inquiry officer's recommendation that no further disciplinary action be taken against the students who confiscated the newspapers. Fagin and Lazerson stressed that future confiscations will not be tolerated, and they hope students will learn to work out their differences through face-to-face dialogue. Faculty Senate Chairperson Gerald Porter said he had initial reservations about the decision to drop the charges, but was reassured by the statement issued by Fagin and Lazerson. "There are individual bits that want questions," Porter said. "My biggest concern was that this decision gives license to students to do this in the future. But I was reassured by the president's and the provost's statement."

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