Full press release from CMA:Media group issues censure against Ocean County CollegeThe Board of Directors of College Media Advisers today censured Ocean County College in New Jersey, calling for the reinstatement of newspaper adviser Karen Bosley.
CMA, the 800-member national organization that serves faculty and staff advisers to the nation's college media, says the censure serves as a warning to potential faculty and, by extension, to students that Ocean fails to value the exercise of free speech and the value of a free press on the college campus.
"It is unfortunate that more and more college administrators believe the First Amendment comes with an asterisk that allows them to exercise content control under the guise of quality," said CMA President Lance Speere. "I can't find this qualifier anywhere in the Bill of Rights.
"CMA cannot tolerate the tactic of removing the publication adviser for the purpose of instituting more control of constitutionally protected student content," Speere said.
"Ocean was given the opportunity to resolve this situation with Professor Bosley. They did not, and in the meantime, SPJ (the Society of Professional Journalists) issued a report also concluding that she had been removed for reasons related to content. We have no choice but to censure Ocean County College."
Dr. David Adams, of Indiana University, principle investigator of the case, said, "It's really tragic that Ocean County College administrators have failed to recognize the seriousness of their actions taken against Prof. Bosley and The Viking News.
"In visiting the campus, we found no educationally sound reasons for removing her as the paper's adviser. The administration seemed to want to tame down the criticism of the student press at OCC, and Prof. Bosley was a logical target of their efforts," Adams said.
Dr. Tom Eveslage of Temple University, who joined Adams on the Ocean investigation, noted, "Censure of Ocean County College is unfortunate, but not surprising. Everything I have heard and read in recent months about the way the OCC administrators have responded during the press/adviser controversy echoes the arrogance and indifference that fueled this free-speech battle. It is sad, indeed, when school administrators put on blinders and dig in their heels to turn a journalism exercise in critical thinking into a show of power and control."
The administration's decision to remove Bosley as adviser of the Viking News came after about two years of discussion between Bosley and the college administration. An investigative team sent to Ocean by CMA found that the termination appeared to be related to unhappiness over newspaper content, including a handful of stories critical of the administration of Ocean President Jon Larson.
Professor Bosley said, "It is reassuring to my students and me to have the support of College Media Advisers in these difficult circumstances as we work to preserve a free and vigorous press on the Ocean County College campus."
Last week,
three of Bosley's students filed a lawsuit in federal court, asking the court to order the college to keep Bosley as adviser and calling her removal a form of censorship.
In today's censure action, CMA asks specifically that Ocean:
--Adopt language in the college operating documents that clearly protects student First Amendment rights and that designates the Viking News as a public forum for the Ocean campus.
--Adopt additional language in the operating documents that state Ocean's intent to fully protect advisers who vigorously defend student First Amendment rights.
--Reinstate Professor Bosley as newspaper adviser, restore her journalism course load and attempt to resolve past differences so that the program can continue to move forward.
Bosley has worked more than three decades at Ocean, where she built a 12-course journalism curriculum and associate degree program. She is a past vice president of the Community College Journalism Association and past officer in CMA. She also has served on the board of directors of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. The Viking News has won numerous state and regional awards under her advising.
Other colleges currently under CMA censure include Le Moyne College in New York, Mount St. Mary's University in Maryland, Kansas State University and Barton County Community College in Kansas.
CMA also has issued a letter of concern to Marquette University and is now investigating a case at Oklahoma Baptist University.
