The LeMoyne College newspaper staff went on strike last week after the college told the newspaper’s adviser that he will be replaced next year.

On Nov. 7, two college officials told Alan Fischler, The Dolphin’s adviser and an English professor, that his contract as newspaper adviser will not be renewed after the academic year ends because the college wants to improve the quality of the newspaper. Upset after Fischler told them the news that night, the seven students on The Dolphin’s editorial board unanimously decided to protest.

‘We feel wronged by the administration,’ said Andrew Brenner, The Dolphin’s editor in chief and a junior at LeMoyne. ‘They made the decision without coming to any of the editors beforehand. That wasn’t the proper thing to do. They should have come to the editors, not to Dr. Fischler.

‘The editors have the sole authority on what goes in the paper. If they have a problem with the paper, they should come to us,’ he said. ‘(Fischler) does exactly what an adviser should do, and that’s advise.’

The seven students distributed a letter to the campus Nov. 10, instead of the weekly newspaper, that explained why they were protesting the college’s decision. A four-page issue of the newspaper will be distributed tomorrow, with an explanation and update of the protest on the first page and the rest of the pages left blank, Brenner said. The newspaper is typically 16 pages.

The students are also passing around a petition to overturn the college’s decision and reinstate Fischler as the newspaper’s adviser. One-fourth to one-third of the school’s 2,900 students has signed the petition in the two days it has been circulating, Brenner said.

Shawn Ward, LeMoyne’s vice president for student development, and Linda LeMura, dean of the college’s Division of Arts and Sciences, made the decision not to renew Fischler’s advising contract. Fischler, who received a stipend of $3,000 as adviser, will continue teaching. The two told Fischler there are too many typographical errors in the newspaper, and they want a more attractive layout, Ward said.

‘We thought a change in the adviser might be a good way of facilitating that,’ he said, adding that he and LeMura had spoken to Fischler before about their concerns, but no improvements were made.

Fischler, who has been The Dolphin’s adviser for nine years, does not dispute their complaints about errors, but disagrees with how a student newspaper should operate.

‘They were distressed by grammatical errors, factual inaccuracies – which of course distressed me too – and wanted a more professional-looking paper, a showpiece for the college,’ Fischler said. ‘If you want me to write and edit the articles, it will be a professional-looking newspaper, but it won’t be a student newspaper. What we’re here to do is educate. It’s important to let them do it.’

As adviser, Fischler attends The Dolphin’s editorial board meetings each Monday and gives advice if students have questions about their articles or potentially libelous statements.

‘I think that’s an indication how little the administration understands the process of a newspaper,’ Brenner said. ‘An adviser has no control over how things are edited.’

Brenner called the college’s ‘rash’ decision ‘a dangerous precedent for student organizations.’

‘This says, ‘Well, we can go in and remove an adviser without the consent of students in that organization.’ It’s not fair to the students that dedicate their time to the organization,’ he said.

Brenner said he considers the college’s ‘disrespectful’ decision to not consult with the students first a form of censorship.

‘The Dolphin is run with student money, the student activity fee,’ he said. ‘In no way does faculty have any sort of control over that. The students decide how organizations and clubs are run. The students on this campus are responsible enough to do that.’

Both Brenner and Fischler said they question exactly what kind of role the college wants the newspaper adviser to take.

‘I can’t help wonder whether control and the desire to control content are not what is a part of the matter,’ Fischler said.

Ward said an adviser ‘should be available to students, be able to help them in any way they need and be involved in the paper,’ as well as ’emphasize the quality of the paper.’

A new adviser has not been named, and a search committee made up of faculty and students will form to find a replacement for Fischler, Ward said. The adviser could be another tenured English professor or an adjunct professor.

Brenner has been invited to sit on this search committee, but said he feels The Dolphin alone has the right to decide who its adviser should be.

Fischler said he was extremely proud of the students for speaking up and protesting a decision they disagree with.

‘In the 18 years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen this much student activism on campus before,’ he said. ‘I guess I should be flattered, but really it isn’t me, it’s the principle. They want to be allowed to choose their own adviser and chart their own course.’

Brenner said he and the rest of the editorial staff have no plans to give up their protest, even if it means indefinitely postponing the newspaper’s publication.

‘I’m not going to rule it out,’ he said. ‘I really like doing what I do at the newspaper, but at the same time I don’t want to work in an environment where the students aren’t in control.’

Published on November 15, 2005 at 12:00 pm