No Papparazi, Please

We recently asked Chancellor John White’s secretary if we could take a photograph of Razorback Stadium from the chancellor’s office window.

We were told “No.” Not because the chancellor was in there or busy, but because we didn’t have clearance.

The secretary informed us that, as a member of the media, we could not “take any images” on campus without first checking in with the Office of University Relations. She pointed to the north. We told her we didn’t have time to traipse over to Hotz Hall. She said “Sorry.”

We took the pictures we needed – from ground level – and then called Roger Williams, who was hired last year as associate vice chancellor of university relations.

When we asked if we needed clearance to take pictures on campus, Williams said, “I don’t think that’s the case. It’s a public university. I think the First Amendment applies to that one.”

We thought so, too.

Perhaps employees in the UA’s administration building should be apprised of the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to public institutions.