by Laura Place
After being posted on Friday evening, the livestream of a March 1 Woodring community assembly was taken down from Woodring’s Youtube channel at the request of Woodring Dean Horacio Walker. The disappearance of the event’s live coverage was met with resistance from students, who sent an email to Walker requesting the video be made public again for those who were not able to attend.
According to an email from Walker, the video was originally taken down due to copyright concerns related to presentations given by faculty featured in the video. Walker said upon receiving permission from all faculty members who gave presentations, the video was re-shared and made “available for the Woodring community”. However, as of 7 p.m. on March 5, the restored video only works as a shareable link and is still not open to public access via search on Youtube.
In an email to students at the forum, Walker requested that students share the link with others. He did not clarify that the livestream was posted this time as an unlisted video.
The livestream covers a 4-hour-long assembly where the dean presented what students considered to be unclear solutions with undefined timelines in response to student concerns that were expressed at a separate forum last month. Heated discussions took place on Friday between Walker and audience members, as students demanded more support for faculty and students of color.
In their email sent to Walker Tuesday morning after the video was taken down, students highlighted the importance of public access to the livestream.
“Our frustrations and concerns remain justified and continue to grow because of decisions like these. The live stream is a significant resource for multiple reasons,” the email reads. “We urge you, Woodring leadership, to critically examine Woodring’s adherence to transparency, accountability, and collaboration, and how this decision to deny public access to the forum’s recording contradicts those commitments.”
