Letter to President, C. Peter Magrath from Frank Au and Eric Ringham, November 17, 1977, Page 1
Letter to President, C. Peter Magrath from Frank Au and Eric Ringham, November 17, 1977, Page 2
Letter to President, C. Peter Magrath from Frank Au and Eric Ringham, November 17, 1977, Page 3
Editor-in-Chief, Eric Ringham and Business Manager, Frank Au, wrote to President C. Peter Magrath on November 17, 1977, to question the relationship of the Daily to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. They noted that the timing was appropriate, as the Daily needed to consolidate their operation in order to achieve “effective educational interaction” and “to serve the University community.”
At that time, the Daily’s business and production facilities were located at 720 Washington Avenue Southeast, while the editorial staff was located on the East Bank in Murphy Hall. Both parties believed it would be beneficial for the student newspaper to consolidate and relocate their offices closer to the School of Journalism.
In response, President Magrath directed the Daily’s questions to Vice President for Student Affairs, Frank B. Wilderson, who appointed a committee on December 2, 1977, to review the relationship of the Daily to the University of Minnesota, the School of Journalism, and the Board in Control of Student Publications.
In an initial meeting, the appointed committee was announced and began discussing the growth of the student newspaper, its coverage and content, and its ties to the Board of Publications. Dave Thomas summarized the meeting in his January 11, 1978 article, “Administrators, student leaders discuss Daily size, cover,” which included a list of questions the committee planned to examine.
After this initial meeting, Jim Clark, Chairman of the Student Service Fee Committee and member of Wilderson’s committee, published an opinion editorial titled, “Daily-University relationships questioned” on February 10, 1978. Although he served on Wilderson’s committee, Clark offered his personal perspective on what he described as the “strange and wonderful relationship” between the Daily and the University of Minnesota.
He outlined the ongoing issues and controversies related to the educational, legal, financial, and operational status of the newspaper. Clark argued that, beyond the work of the committee, students needed to share their input, since the Daily’s impact would affect them most directly.
Image of an article, "Administrators, student leaders discuss Daily size, coverage," The Minnesota Daily, January 11, 1978 and "Daily-University relationship questioned," The Minnesota Daily, February 10, 1978
That Spring, Wilderson’s committee brought significant changes to the Daily’s student incidental fee and advisory oversight. On February 16, 1978, the Board of Publications approved the hiring of a full-time business manager, and by June, Ronald A. Wills accepted the position. Meanwhile, after extended discussions between the Student Service Fee Committee and the Twin Cities Student Assembly (TCSA), the Board of Regents voted on May 12th to allocate $1.80 per student to the Daily, a seven-cent decrease from the previous year’s funding. At one point, the Daily asked to place part of its student fee allocation into an escrow account to support future efforts to relocate or consolidate its divided office spaces. However, the University denied that request and directed the full allocation to the Board of Publications to manage and distribute as needed.
On June 21, 1978, the committee submitted its final report to Frank B. Wilderson, outlining the defined relationships between the Daily, the University of Minnesota, the School of Journalism, and the Board of Publications. Five months later, on November 16, 1978, the Board of Publications formally approved the report. According to the November 20th article, “Pub board defines U-Daily association,” the committee clarified the structure of the Daily’s operations. The report emphasized that the University did not serve as the Daily’s publisher and held no responsibility for its content. Instead, the University’s only influence over Daily decision-making came through its authority to approve the Board of Publications and oversee the paper’s financial affairs via the student fee process.
Image of an article, "Pub board defines U-Daily association," The Minnesota Daily, November 20, 1978
The committee focused primarily on whether the Daily should sever its ties with the University and incorporate as an independent entity. While some committee members supported this idea, all agreed that the Daily remained a student organization. In the end, the report concluded that the current structure provided “adequate checks and balances.”
