Dear Readers,
For nearly three years, the Alligator has been working with UF toward a compromise on its signature orange news racks. As of Friday, the Alligator’s Board of Directors made a significant step toward resolving the dispute.
In December 2009, UF’s Board of Trustees passed a rule prohibiting distribution of all publications on campus unless approved by UF’s vice president for business affairs. The Alligator was not consulted about the change, and although the proposal was published, UF made no effort to reach out to the newspaper.
At about the same time, a plan was drafted to remove all privately owned distribution racks from campus and replace them with university-owned modular racks.
Since then, the Alligator has fought to keep its orange racks, and by extension, its ability to reach the Student Body.
On Aug. 8, facing an Aug. 15 deadline to remove 24 of its racks from campus, the Alligator filed a lawsuit asking the federal court in Gainesville to allow the racks to remain and to block UF’s regulation on the distribution of publications on First Amendment grounds.
On Friday, the Alligator’s Board of Directors voted to recommend a settlement to UF the board believes will be an acceptable compromise for both the university and the newspaper.
Under the terms of the settlement, the Alligator would remove 24 of its news racks in areas of UF’s campus where UF has placed its modular black racks. All other orange Alligator racks would be licensed and allowed to remain on campus.
The settlement will be presented to UF’s Board of Trustees for consideration at its Dec. 7 meeting. If accepted, the settlement would go into effect immediately, and the Alligator would file a voluntary dismissal of the lawsuit by Dec. 10.
The Alligator’s attorney, Tom Julin, has also proposed revisions to UF’s rule on distribution of publications to ensure that UF will not use the modular racks to censor the Alligator or prevent access to the paper.
We, the editors of the Alligator, feel the settlement is a fair and just compromise. After three years of struggling with this issue, we are hopeful that UF will accept the settlement and that the dispute will come to a close.
Our focus has always been on bringing independent and unbiased news to the Student Body. We hope that with this settlement, we’ll always be free to do just that.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Erin Jester. Editor-in-Chief
Sarah Kinonen, Managing Editor/Print
Evan Walker, Managing Editor/Online
