Maryland's public university system is poised to become the first in the country with a policy on student displays of pornographic films, a direct response to legislative demands made after a screening earlier this year of a XXX-rated film at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Though work on the policy is continuing, it has stirred many of the same free-speech concerns that raged when the university briefly quashed student plans to screen the pornographic epic "Pirates II: Stagnetti's Revenge" in April. Many student groups would prefer to have no policy at all, but the system's Board of Regents is likely to vote on a final version before a Dec. 1 deadline set by the state legislature.
"This is a unique situation," said Robert O'Neil, former president of the University of Virginia and a longtime First Amendment scholar who has advised the Maryland attorney general's office during drafting of the policy.
It is also an uncomfortable one for university officials, who are highly sensitive about academic freedom, and for students, who fear that political expediency could trump their freedom to enjoy and discuss controversial entertainment.
"I would love it if they decided that their policy was to have no policy," said Brady Walker, a second-year law student at the University of Baltimore and chair of the university system's umbrella student council. "This is the first of its kind, and for Maryland to be known for something like that is a little troubling. To me, it's a little troubling that politics can have this kind of impact."
The policy will not ban anything, but, as per the legislature's request, probably will require that the showing of pornographic materials be paired with an educational discussion, said P.J. Hogan, the university system's vice chancellor for government relations.
"The legislature is not saying you must ban the display of obscene films," said Hogan, a former state senator. "It's saying you can't use university facilities to show them strictly for entertainment purposes. You can show it and then make it an opportunity to talk about free speech and pornography. That keeps it in the realm of higher education."
Hogan said discussions around the "Pirates II" screening were examples of how the process should work.
As they develop guidelines, university officials are working without a road map from other states or specific instructions from the legislature.
