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NEW YORK — As the saying goes, sex sells.

So when editors at The Wagnerian decided to join the recent trend of campus newspapers running sex advice columns, they hoped to raise a few eyebrows, renew interest in the paper and encourage a healthy dialogue among students at Wagner College, located in Staten Island.

The feedback they instead received was disapproval by the administration, which pulled papers from the racks and threatened to fire Claire Regan, a Wagner alumna who has advised the paper for more than 15 years.

“I’ve worked with [Claire] very closely for past two years, and she’s never once censored us on anything,” said Jill Higgins, editor in chief of The Wagnerian. “There have been articles she doesn’t agree with, but she’s always given us full editorial decision. [Running the sex column] was a decision that she did not make, and it’s not her job to censor us.”

“The Sex-Files” column, which ran in the Nov. 18 issue of The Wagnerian, discussed faking orgasms and included a “man on the street” section with quotes and pictures from students. On Nov. 22, the administration pulled hundreds of copies of the twice-monthly, 1,000-circulation publication from the stands and placed them in Dean Ann Love’s office. Regan said it is still unclear who ordered the removal of the papers, which are still in the administration’s custody.

Love and Wagner President Richard Guarasci did not return phone calls Monday. Higgins said initially administrators told her they feared litigation from parents whose children had answered the question, “Orgasms: Do you fake it?” in a sidebar to the column. Members of The Wagnerian staff later contacted the students who were quoted, all of whom said they had no problem with the piece.

Robert O’Brien, chairman of the board of trustees at Wagner, said nothing like a sex column has run in The Wagnerian during the 12 years he has served on the board. He said although the column came as a shock to many, the administration and the board remain dedicated to free speech.

“The one thing we have stated is we are absolutely committed to freedom of speech of our student body and freedom of speech of our faculty,” O’Brien said. “But speech has a certain responsibility that goes along with it, and we would hope all of those bodies would be mindful of that responsibility. A lot of people found the article to be offensive. The question is, if it is offensive, are you sensitive to that and are you aware of it?”

Higgins said Guarasci required editors to submit a final draft of the paper to Love prior to the publication of the December issue.

“I was told I would no longer supervise, but would be a faculty adviser,” Regan said. “It was cloudy about what my role would be. [The administration] wanted me to stay involved, but it became clear they didn’t want me to be the sole adviser.”

The Wagnerian is fully funded by Wagner College. Because Wagner is a private college, students are not afforded the same protections as those at public schools under the First Amendment. Since filing a lawsuit would likely be unfruitful, Wagnerian staff members took a different approach, writing a story about the situation and notifying members of the campus community.

On Dec. 3, 58 professors and more than 700 students at the college of 2,500 signed petitions to protest the “restriction of free speech at Wagner.”

Guarasci sent the staff a memo Dec. 19 requesting “a comprehensive review of the mission and journalistic goals for The Wagnerian.”

Regan said she and Wagnerian staff members spent the break working on the review, which Guarasci asked be finished by Jan. 17. Regan said the review outlined aspects such as a mission statement, goals and objectives, the paper’s audience and the role of the adviser.

“It was a good exercise for me and for the students,” Regan said. “It was a collaborative effort that was one step toward a resolution.”

Regan submitted the review to Guarasci and said she was pleased when last week he announced at a faculty meeting that she would be the sole adviser to the newspaper for the remainder of the semester. Additionally, Guarasci sent a memo to the campus community Jan. 27 to address the “status of The Wagnerian and its advising oversight.”

“Our basic principle is that The Wagnerian is a longstanding part of student life and, like all programs at the college, it retains the freedom to pursue open inquiry with an abiding commitment to fairness, integrity and responsibility,” he wrote. He added that as a result of the Wagnerian’s review, “I believe we have achieved genuine campus consensus in resolving many of the issues raised last semester.”

He added that in September 2003 a full-time journalism professor will join Wagner and share Regan’s advising duties. Regan said she was satisfied with the resolution to last semester’s problems.

“Student journalists definitely need guidance, I’ve always believed that,” she said. “That’s my role as the adviser. Plus I think it’s clarified the role and the importance of The Wagnerian at Wagner. It really reaffirmed everybody’s support of it and interest in it.”

Higgins maintains that the paper was not negligent in running the column in the first place.

“Our basic argument is that our primary audience is the student body of Wagner College. That’s whom we’re writing for,” she said. “Maybe the sex column was a little over the edge for our first time, but it was what students wanted to read.”

On Jan. 28, the legislative branch of Wagner’s student government association voted on two resolutions — one affirming the student government’s support of free speech and one condemning the administration for its actions last semester. Student government President Debby Ashim said only the first resolution passed. Though she was reluctant to discuss details, she said student newspaper has a responsibility to produce quality content.

“I think the newspaper needs to uphold certain standards and needs to be an example of good journalism,” she said.

Both Higgins and Regan said this incident would not affect the way they make decisions for The Wagnerian.

“I have learned rights have to be fought for,” Higgins said. “Because we go to a private college, they’re not afforded to us. It’s something that can be taken from you very quickly before you even realize that it’s happening.”

The next issue of The Wagnerian is expected next week and will include copies of the review submitted by the staff to the president and the president’s subsequent memo regarding the situation. Higgins added that she hopes to continue running a sex column in The Wagnerian once the current controversy dies down.