The new policy requires members of Student Government to go through its new communications department and only during its business hours which is Monday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Courtesy of Ysatis Jordan
By Tim Fanning
For decades, Florida has been a national leader in requiring the public’s business to be conducted in the sunshine. But not under Student Body President Kaeden Kelso.
Kelso’s erroneous policy, in which members of Student Government must first go through its communications department when talking to the press, is poised to return government to the dark ages.
This is a shocking assault on one of the most precious protections Floridians, students and reporters have to ensure public officials are held accountable. It cannot be tolerated.
I was outraged to read in the Sept. 24 issue of The Crow’s Nest that, under Kelso’s ridiculous policy, every member of Student Government, except Kelso and Vice President Ysatis Jordan, must go through its spokesperson during business hours when speaking to reporters.
That makes Kelso’s administration less accessible than any Student Government president in my tenure at USF St. Petersburg. That makes his administration less accessible than the City of St. Petersburg, Tampa and the university’s administration, who routinely make time to speak to reporters, often outside of business hours.
Current and former university spokespersons were also available all day by email and cellphone. I should know. As the newspaper’s former managing editor, a Tampa Bay Times and WUSF Public Radio intern, I often relied on these people at all hours of the day. University professors also routinely made time to speak to reporters, even without permission or direction from the communications department.
Unlike other governments, the one on our campus does not publish press releases and elected officials rarely make public announcements or town hall meetings. That makes The Crow’s Nest one of the only ways to get information, without having to dredge through unorganized agendas and other documents.
So what’s Kelso’s poor excuse? Uniformity.
That’s according to Jon Rowles, Kelso’s chief of staff. Apparently, without a communications director, Student Government would be “less efficient in our transparency.”
Here’s what he told Crow’s Nest Managing Editor Emily Wunderlich last week:
“Let’s say there wasn’t a (communications director),” Rowles said. “Everybody that you then dealt with would be giving you different responses. This way it’s uniform, it’s the same.”
Does Rowles mean to say members of his administration are too stupid to give accurate information, or is he implying that the officials I trust to manage campus affairs should do everything Kelso says?
The extent to which this administration stifles access and information from reporters better represents a private corporation, not a government body.
If Kelso and administrators are willing to stupidly restrain a Crow’s Nest reporter’s ability to inform the campus, what else is he willing to do?
I am terrified to even imagine.
If Kelso and his administration has any respect for transparency, and his constituents’ right to know what he’s up to, he will rescind this policy immediately.
Editor’s note: This letter was also sent to university Student Government officials.
