Topic: CNSNews.com
A May 28 CNSNews.com article by Adam Brickley gives ample space for Liberty University to spin its crackdown on a College Democrats club on campus, bashing the "liberal media" for reporting that the school "banned" the club when it merely "revoked offical recognition and school funding."
It's not until the 21st paragraph, however, that Brickley gets around to reporting the point of view of an actual member of the College Democrats:
[Jan Michael] Dervish said the lack of university certification creates a problem for the club.
“If we did continue as an unrecognized club on campus, we would not be able to post flyers, have information tables, or make announcements on the internal Web site,” Dervish said. “This would be a rather huge handicap, if we wanted to hold an event to try and recruit members, we would not be able to advertise it on campus.”
Brickley does not explain why the university's forbidding the club to recruit new members or even to publicize events is not the functional equivalent of a ban. After all, it does little good to have the ability to, in the words of Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr., "still meet on campus" if you're not allowed to tell anyone that there's a meeting.
Indeed, it seems that Liberty is treating its College Democrats much like communist China treats churches that lack official government sanction.
