Why did the official student newspaper of the University of Notre Dame refuse to run two ads submitted by Notre Dame Right to Life in October?

Because the ads were too “politically charged,” according to Meghanne Downes, the Observer's managing editor.

The decision has left some Catholic-college watchers scratching their heads.

The first ad, a quarter-page notice that would have run Oct. 11, publicized a student Mass for life. It presented a photo of an unborn baby in utero alongside a quote from Pope John Paul II: “You are called to stand up for life! To respect and defend the mystery of life always and everywhere, including the lives of unborn babies.”

Downes told the Register that it's official Observer policy to exclude ads with political content and that its editors may refuse to print advertisements “for any reason without specifying the reason for rejection.”

The newspaper refused to run that particular ad, she said, because the quote from the Pope was “editorial in nature and politically charged. Ads that we believe contain editorial content, we reject.”

Downes said she told Notre Dame Right to Life they “could advertise their event but not their ideological perspective. The group chose not to submit a letter to the editor.”

Downes pointed out that the Observer has rejected pro-choice and birth-control ads for the same reasons.

Janel Daufenbach, co-president of Notre Dame Right to Life, rejected the rationale of the Observer editors.

“They said the Pope's quote was too political,” she told the Register. “I told them, ‘No, we're not being political at all.’ We were just advertising for a Mass at a Catholic university. We were just asking people to respect life; we were not telling them how to vote. It wasn't a political ad at all.”

Lauren Galgano, the group's other co-president, observed that the editors seem to view the Pope as a controversial figure.

Yet, she noted, ads by the Standing Committee on Gay and Lesbian Needs sometimes include language to the effect of, “We should respect each other.”

“That seems to me to be just as persuasive in nature as the language we used,” she said.

‘Ideology’

Downes has a different view on the matter. She said that she and the other top two editors at the Observer feel that editorial and ideological content belong in the paper's “Viewpoint” section, not in advertisements.

“We editors strive to be impartial and ethical in our decision making,” she said. “We don't want to accept money in return for running these ideological perspectives. We wouldn't want our audience to think that we agree with that viewpoint because we financially benefit from it.”

Daufenbach said she thinks Observer editors judged the ad too controversial and politically charged because it tells people “how to think.”

“I said, ‘Isn't that the purpose of an advertisement?’” she said. She believes her group has been singled out for unfair treatment.

Galgano agreed, saying that one of the Observer's objections to the Mass ad was that the Holy Father's quote contained persuasive language about standing up for the unborn.

Downes told the Register that the Observer worked with Notre Dame Right to Life to create a new ad that would be acceptable. The resulting ad gave information about the Mass, but the Observer required Notre Dame Right to Life to remove the quote from the Pope and the picture of the unborn baby.

The second rejected ad had run in student newspapers at 13 other prestigious universities around the country, including Georgetown, Princeton and Yale. It presented a list of 10 reflections on what embryonic stem-cell research is, and included a call to vote against candidates and ballot measures supportive of such research. It was originally drafted by Princeton University Pro-Life.

Although Downes and Galgano agree that the second ad clearly had editorial content, Galgano said they believe Notre Dame was the only school at which a student newspaper refused to run the ad.

Asked why the Observer accepts no advertisements with “editorial content,” Downes said: “Based on what has happened in past years, we felt like this was a guideline we would like to accept. It's a matter of the environment a student newspaper operates in.” Downes indicated that past editors have advised the current editors that this policy is well suited to the Observer.

“The Observer is scared of the free exchange of ideas,” countered Galgano. “I don't think they take seriously their mission to serve Notre Dame. We're not a partisan club. They should understand that it's a life-and-death issue, not a Right-and-Left issue.”

Voices Silenced

The Observer is an independent student newspaper overseen by the president's office. It is funded by student fees, but has no advisor from the faculty or administration. Chandra Johnson, assistant to the president at Notre Dame, told the Register that it is administration policy not to comment on the relationship between the administration and the Observer. Issues are dealt with on a case-by-case basis, although she did say that the newspaper's advertising policy is developed in consultation between the president's office and Observer editors.

“We don't necessarily say that, because this is advocating a Catholic viewpoint, then we should run it,” Downes said. “I believe that would be unethical. If you're not going to pair it with the opposite viewpoint as well, then you're not servicing your community. You're not being true to your purpose of being an ethical paper.”

Some Catholic observers take exception to that kind of logic. “Catholic institutions such as Notre Dame are not going to change the Supreme Court or The New York Times,” said Notre Dame alumnus Bill McGurn, chief editorial writer of The Wall Street Journal, in a lecture he gave the last week of October. “But what would happen if they used their not-insignificant platforms to raise the stature and profile of those fighting the good fight?”

That's one question Daufen-bach would like to pose when she meets with an official in the president's office to discuss ad rejections at the Observer.

“We're a very large group on campus,” she said. “They're not allowing that message to be heard. I would hope that the Observer would let Catholic values be heard.”

Tom Harmon writes from Spokane, Washington.