Open Letter to Stuart Fagan 

in response to the Interoffice Memorandum dated November 3, 2000, questioning the professionalism and ethics of the student media at Governors State University.

Mr. President,

I respect your concerns and your professed commitment to a free student press.

I have always trusted your judgment and the promise of your leadership.

You have given me reason, however, to raise a few questions. Perhaps, despite the standard you have set for airing public discussion in staff and faculty mailboxes, you will consent to replying, out of respect for the students, directly through their media, which does and has always invited open discussion and contradictory opinions.

What action have you taken, or will you take, against the Dean of Student Life for phoning the printer and attempting to stop the publication of the paper (prior constraint)?

What action have you taken, or will you take, against the Dean of Arts and Sciences for posting his insults directed at the managing editor and at me, throughout the campus, using university resources to do so? What public reprimand will you serve him for alleging slander without either properly submitting his reply to the newspaper, or holding the writers accountable, in a fair and respectful fashion, on specific findings of fact?

What action have you taken, or will you take, against the former Interim Provost for supervising, without objection, the improper detention of the editor-in-chief by the Department of Public Security, the prolonged illicit restriction of students’ access to the Innovator newsroom, and the lengthy withholding of information regarding the content of the police report that has led to charges being brought against the managing editor?

Do these actions not “allow the reputation of the university … to be sullied”? Will you “sit idly by, without comment”? Will those who make these occurrences known, be blamed for their existence?

I am struck, as an educator, by the contrastingly high standard to which you seem to hold our hard-working student journalists, and disturbed by your allegation that student newspaper reporting at GSU “might be driven, in part, by self-interest” (whose?).

According to the College Media Advisors Code of Ethics, by which I abide: “There should never be an instance where an advisor maximizes quality by minimizing learning. Student media should always consist of student work. Faculty, staff and other non-students who assume advisory roles with student media must remain aware of their obligation to defend and teach without censoring, editing, directing or producing. It should not be the media advisor’s role to modify student writing or broadcasts, for it robs student journalists of educational opportunity and could severely damage their rights to free expression.”

These students, Mr. Fagan, are working hard in the pursuit of transparency and accountability, and for the durable creation of a first-class student medium for expression and discussion. Their impressive achievements have yet to be acknowledged publicly by you. With limited resources, a true quest for improvement, immense effort and admirable dedication, they are doing their job: they are learning. Attempts to silence and discredit their work, and illegal or unethical pressures on them apparently exerted by members of your administration, have provoked no visible discomfort in your quarters. Please step back and reflect. Who is not doing his or her job? Where should we be looking for motivations of “self-interest”?

Respectfully,

Geoffroy de Laforcade,

Faculty Advisor to the Innovator