Georgetown University: Student Newspaper's Censorship of Columnist
Cases
Georgetown University
Case Overview
The editor-in-chief of the Georgetown University's student newspaper, The Hoya, resorted to student self-censorship. David Jung Wong, a sophomore from Hollywood, Florida, fired Robert Swope, a conservative columnist, for having angered campus feminists with his weekly op-eds. Wong was unhappy with Swope's unrepentant politically incorrect views and took it upon himself to rid the paper of its token conservative columnist. Wong's decision had been the subject of discussion in a number of national publications, almost exclusively by intellectually diverse and liberty-loving female authors. Cultural critic Camille Paglia, libertarian intellectual Wendy McElroy, Jewish World Review columnist Michelle Malkin, National Review's Kathryn Lopez, and the Washington Times's Andrea Billups had all criticized The Hoya for shamelessly silencing Swope.