Friday, September 26, 1997
Complaints spark rap music ban
CONTROVERSY: Civil rights debated after official issues memo to
appease residents
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Contributor
Complaints from summer orientation attendees prompted a ban on
rap music from the lobbies of all residence halls this summer, a
move some consider unconstitutional.
"The ban appears to violate the First Amendment because it
establishes a broad ban of an entire genre of music without
sufficient justification," said Tim Alger, a media law attorney
with Gibson, Dunn, and Crutcher.
The ban stemmed from complaints made to Roxanne Neal, head of
the summer orientation program, from students attending orientation
and complaints made by summer conference attendees.
About 320 students attend each orientation session, as well as
approximately 150 parents and family members of incoming
students.
In addition to the orientation programs, numerous conferences
were held during the summer in the residence halls for university
supporters and donors.
Students and their families who were checking into Sproul Hall
met with music that some found offensive.
"The language used in the music contained racist and sexist
words," Neal said. "There was one song in particular that had a
very misogynistic tone."
According a memo obtained by the Daily Bruin, Anne McDaniel, a
front office manager for On-Campus Housing, received "some very
vocal complaints by an important conference client" about the
content of the music played at the front desk of Sproul.
In response to this complaint, McDaniel issued a ban on August 8
forbidding all rap music at the front desks of residence halls for
the remainder of the summer.
"This includes hip-hop stations KPWR (Power) 106 and 92.3," the
memo stated, "plus any CDs that are specifically rap-artist
oriented."
While orientation attendees only mentioned offensive lyrics in
their complaints, McDaniel banned rap music specifically.
It is this point that has caused concern that the ban violates
First Amendment rights.
"To limit speech in this way, a public university must show that
its regulation is necessary," Alger said. "The blanket ban on rap
music does not pass this constitutional test."
Michael Lawrence, a practicing attorney in the Los Angeles area,
agreed.
"Since the regulation does not target all music containing
offensive lyrics, but rap music alone, this suggests that dorm
administrators have an unlawful purpose and may be more concerned
about the message of rap music," Lawrence said.
McDaniel refused to comment on the matter, but her supervisor,
Alfred Nam, claimed that no ban on rap music had been in
effect.
"What we did discuss was banning any music that contained
profane or sexually graphic language," he said.
Nam also claimed to have no knowledge of any memo banning rap
music from the front desks, even though he was on the recipients
list for the memo.
Nam issued another e-mail message Thursday, informing all
front-desk employees that there was no ban in effect of any one
type of music, only on music that could be deemed offensive.
The ban came to the attention of the Bruin through residence
hall front desk employees who felt that the ban on rap music was
uncalled-for, but no one would comment on record.
The issue did, however, reach the desk of USAC President Kandea
Mosley.
Mosley said that the undergraduate council had discussed the
issue in a meeting during the summer, but had stopped short of
issuing a resolution calling for action.
"We discussed the problem, and tried to follow up with the
responsible parties," Mosley said.
"What we had a problem with was banning a whole genre of music,"
she continued. "Any music can be offensive."
The ban also bothered Chad Williams, Chairman of the African
Student Union.
"I think it’s a very reactionary decision, one that was made
without sufficient student input," Williams said.
"This is extremely insensitive to students in general, and it is
disrespectful to students’ right to choose their music," he
continued.
Monique Matthews, managing editor of the rap pages of Hip-Hop
magazine and a UCLA alumna, expressed surprise over the ban.
"This is especially surprising at UCLA, where they are so proud
of their diversity," Matthews said.
The ban was only in effect for the last month of summer break.
There is currently no unilateral ban of any radio station at the
residence hall front desks.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Fourth-year history student, Rick Barsh, helps students at the
Dykstra Hall front desk.