Newspaper Page Text
May 1990 • UGA: An Independent Look • Page 17
By Susan Hill
University icon Dean Emeritus William
Tate told the Demosthenian Society in
February 1979 that the year hadn't been a
good one. The library had failed to attract the
the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center and
Arts and Sciences Dean Jack Stephens had
been fired recently. To top it all off, there had
been serious talk of The Red and Black
separating itself from the University, a move
Tate compared to suicide.
"Athens is a town saturated with
newspapers," the dean of men from 1942 to
1969 told the debating society in his typical
brash fashion. "1 don't think The Red and
Black can become independent and live."
Despite the concerns of Tate and several
others, The Red and Black, published by the
University since 1893, left its campus offices
in January of 1980 after more than a year of
study by a special University committee. It
began supporting itself without University
funds that fall. It was expected to lose
$30,000 in its first year, but instead, the
newspaper almost came up in the black,
losing only $126.
Almost 10 years and numerous awards of
excellence later for both its advertising and
editorial departments, The Red and Black
plans to build a $1 million facility on Baxter
Street next to Shrimp Boats by the summer
of 1992. It will be the one of the few student
newspapers to own its own building.
The past decade has produced more than a
healthy balance sheet and a long list of
awards for the student newspaper. The Red
and Black has provided an invaluable
educational experience for the more than 500
staffers of the 10-year period, allowing them
the chance to fall on their faces as well as the
chance to shine.
In spring of 1981, several newspapers,
including those in Atlanta, rallied behind
The Red and Black and a young reporter
named David Nelson. Nelson had uncovered
how easily someone could obtain a
University ID under another student's name,
thus allowing that person illegal access to
University services. To illustrate the process,
Nelson illegally obtained a student ID under
another's name, a move which infuriated
some administrators and caused them to
take the matter to Student Judiciary.
Although he was found guilty of some of
the charges, Nelson received no sentence.
Many felt The Red and Black staff handled
itself in a more professional manner than
University administrators.
One of the greatest challenges during the
decade came when Developmental Studies
Assistant Professor Jan Kemp took the
University to court, after she was fired for
protesting the preferential treatment of
athletes. Suzanne Wood, who was news
editor at the time, remembers putting five
Kemp stories on the front page the day the
courts initially decided to award her $1.08
million. "It certainly was not one of the
The life of an ad rep: Leigh Kiffe attempts to sell space to Steve Sgarlato, the owner of The Grill
University's more shining times, but as a
journalist, it was a great time to be at the
University," says Wood, who now is a
reporter for the Lansing State Journal in
Michigan.
The Red and Black has continued to
expand its facilities and staff throughout the
decade, and is now busting at the seams of
its current downtown offices on Jackson
Street behind Kinko's. A new emphasis was
put on its Trends magazine in 1987, and the
paper's design was totally revamped for a
more professional and colorful appearance in
1989.
About half of all student newspapers
across the country claim to be separate from
their respective colleges and universities,
but most do not fit the true legal definition of
independence. Fewer than 5 percent of all
college newspapers support themselves
financially, as The Red and Black does,
without school subsidies, says Lillian Lodge
Kopenhaver, associate director of the School
of Journalism and Mass Communication at
Florida International University. This
means the school can't even pay the paper's
power bill or let it use campus facilities free
of charge, according to Kopenhaver, who,
along with a professor from Memphis State
University, conducted a national study on
independent papers.
Even so, the idea of independence is not
novel. The Harvard Crimson has enjoyed
freedom from university bureaucracy since it
started publishing in the 1870s, and cutting
college ties became as popular as protesting
during the '60s.
The first rumblings of The Red and Black's
move to independence came in the early '70s
after the University of Florida's paper left in
a highly publicized case. Once again, "It
became the rage to go independent," says
Harry Montevideo, The Red and Black's
current general manager who also served as
The Alligator's business manager and then
advertising director during the '70s.
Most agree that The Red and Black left for
reasons other than censorship. In fact,
student staffers had reigned in the
newsroom with virtually no fear of
University officials since at least the early
'60s, according to former Journalism
Professor Dan Kitchens, who served as the
newspaper's adviser during much of the '50s
and '60s. Tom Cochran, assistant to the vice
president for Student Affairs, remembers a
time when the students perhaps took their
freedom a little too far. In its opinions pages,
the newspaper had vehemently opposed a
new mandate by the University System
Board of Regents requiring all seniors to
pass an exit exam before they could
graduate. The staff let their opinions leak
into their news coverage and refused to
publish information about times and
locations of the exam. University
administrators finally forced the paper to
print the exam information.
The staff has never shied away from
investigative pieces or feared printing stories
that might put the University in a bad light.
The editorial page often delivered stinging
criticism of Fred Davison, former University
president from 1967 to 1986. There was no
love lost for Davison, who was notorious for
his intolerance of The Red and Black as well
as the rest of the fourth estate. "He was
afraid and he was fearful of the press and, as
far as The Red and Black was concerned,
noncooperative," says Kitchens, who now
serves on the paper's Board of Directors.
When Athletic Director Vince Dooley
speculated on running for U.S. Senate,
Davison took the time to berate national and
local reporters at a press conference for
hyping the story, according to Brian O'Shea,
a former editor — now board member — for
Please See INDEPENDENCE,
Page IS