Confiscated newspapers remain in administrators' hands
February 4, 2003
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.
© 2003 Student Press Law Center
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