The Catholic University of America announced last month that it would cut scholarships for the campus newspaper, campus yearbook and student government. The announcement came just a few months after CUA administration cut ties with the newspaper, The Tower, due to unhappiness with The Tower's reporting on campus issues.
Although CUA claims the cuts were for financial reasons, it seems strange that the cuts came on the heels of the school's falling-out with The Tower. The paper is independent, and the school has a right to redirect their funds, but administrators must have realized that the move would be crippling to the newspaper, as well as the yearbook and student government. No matter the intention, it comes accross as administrators attempting to silence students.
It seems very odd that CUA would cut ties with The Tower, when the publication is the most significant news source on campus. It's bad for the administration, because it doesn't get to have its side of the story heard. But then again, the Tower Editor in Chief Phil Essington said that administration had indicated that the decision to cut was several months in the making, so maybe the looming scholarship cuts affected CUA's decision to stop talking to them.
In all, both the decision to cut the scholarships and the decision to stop talking to The Tower are counterintuitive to the purpose of higher education, to foster a spirited and independent mind. This is not a religious issue, because other religious universities do not operate in this manner. Though the suddenness of CUA's cuts draw some comparisons to AU Athletics' decision to cut the golf and tennis programs, at least AU's decision was clearly purely based on finances and did not have any appearance of impropriety. CUA handled the situation terribly.
