University of Miami bans magazine
Sunday, March 14, 2010 at 8:47PM 
In the wake of our well-publicized issues with the University of Miami on THE U, the founders of back\slash magazine (three of the four are Miami students) had their publication banned from UM's Coral Gables campus.
According to their website, back\slash has a circulation of 50,000 at 17 schools nationwide (including FIU, MDC, FSU and UF) and experienced a 1,280% increase in ad revenue since their first issue. If accurate, that is impressive for any magazine in this environment, let alone an upstart student-run company.
One of the student owners, after already taking out $90,000 in loans to finance his UM education, went so far as to leave the school to protest the ban.
The university is certainly entitled to regulate the dissemination of materials on their private property and, according to this letter, they are extending back\slash an invitation to reapply for campus distribution in the fall.
Regardless of your thoughts on the quality of the magazine's content or the manner in which its founders have conducted themselves, I know from personal experience that trying to work professionally and politely with the UM administration doesn't do any good. If you're not writing them a big fat check (beyond tuition), they honestly do not care about you, whether you're alumni, a student or faculty. Ultimately, it's a shame when the university disses fellow Hurricanes who are creatively and passionately pursuing their dream of building a business and trying to make a living in this fragile economy.
A wise person once said: “Academic freedom requires an environment where intellectual pluralism and the free expression of ideas are embraced. The University of Miami, as an institution dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and charged with the duty of educating young adults from around the world, is committed to supporting the values of free speech, the rights of assembly and free association, and other basic civil liberties." That was Donna Shalala on January 18, 2006.
Reader Comments (2)
Wow, is all I can say, but I do feel the article has validity, especially the fifth paragraph.
Great Article guys. We appreciate you raising awareness about this bullshit distribution ban...