Get Herald RSSStarting to get jealous of your friends at Rhode Island College? With primary season only just behind us, the one odd aspect of all the attention that the nation paid to our humble state was that no candidates - or their family members - were allowed to speak right here at Brown.
As it turns out, the explanation for the lack of political speeches on campus may come down to an outdated University policy. Brown is a registered nonprofit, exempt from millions of dollars in federal taxes, and one condition of such status is that it cannot participate in political campaigns.
Certainly no one would wish to jeopardize that exemption - an essential part of what allows us to be a functioning educational institution - in order to try to influence an election, right?
This restriction on nonprofit organizations didn't grow out of some ideological separation like that of church and state - under which, ideally, people would disavow any connection to the other issue. Instead, it's just a measure intended to prevent organizations masquerading as charities from exerting undue power over the electoral process.
Philanthropic foundations, political think tanks and educational groups all fall under these nonprofit regulations - and they can act toward any social or political goal save exerting influence "on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office," according to the IRS's Web site.
It's not exactly hard to figure out where to draw the line, though. The IRS gives specific guidelines about inviting candidates that are pretty lenient - allowing anyone to speak as a candidate as long as other candidates have the same chance to speak, there's no fund-raising and the university in question is clear that the invitation is not an endorsement.
Bryant University, Community College of Rhode Island and RIC all figured it out - so why couldn't we? With all due respect to these fine colleges and universities, we expect that at least some candidates would have spoken here if they had been allowed to do so. Even former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tried to make an appearance on College Hill, according to the College Republicans.
And though we appreciate the optimism (or is it naivete?) of University spokesman Michael Chapman in hoping that a change in the policy today would help students and community members "hear from political candidates," there's no need to obscure the truth: It's too late. We can only hope that 2012's primary season will, somehow, bring the nation's eyes back to Little Rhody. That time around, Brown will have a chance to bring political discourse to the center of campus, where it belongs.
