The University’s decision to censor the documentary film thesis of journalism students Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin should raise red flags for all students. Bougher and Safiullin, whose thesis centers on a Haitian aid organization, happened to be in Haiti when the earthquake struck. They may have lived to tell their story, but the University doesn’t want them to.
I don’t object to the University’s policy of no UF-sanctioned, -sponsored, or approved trips for students to Haiti. It makes sense from a safety and liability perspective. What I do object to is the University’s current stance that the students should not be allowed to use footage from the students post-earthquake, private return trips because it would circumvent the travel policy.
If the purpose of the policy is for safety and risk reduction, then what interest is served by censoring the thesis? Since student safety concerns generally aren’t implicated by the presence of documentaries on campus, the answer appears to be retaliation for allegedly violating a policy that doesn’t even address penalties for students who go on non-sanctioned trips to Haiti.
The footage highlights the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory and is of great public interest. The prospect of a university administration arbitrarily telling students (in their final semester, no less) that they must take out essential content of their thesis should not be tolerated.
