NORTHFIELD — This semester, student journalists at The Guidon, Norwich University’s student newspaper, have wanted to publish news stories about a variety of topics: university events, features, film and TV criticism, profiles of campus figures.
But The Guidon, which is online-only, has gone months without posting a story — first because of a suspension from the Norwich administration, and now because students are refusing to restart the paper unless the university fulfills certain conditions.
In a statement published on The Guidon’s website last week, titled “Why We Won’t Work,” students outlined a list of requirements, which include the elimination of all oversight of the news outlet and a statement from the administration affirming the paper’s independence.
The statement highlights a standoff between student journalists and the Northfield military university, prolonging a dispute that has kept the more-than-century-old student newspaper from publishing for months and drawn criticism over what many see as censorship of a student press.
“This is the first time that The Guidon has been suspended in its entire 100 and some-odd year history,” Bennett Oakes, a Guidon reporter and junior, said in an interview Monday. “We’re vying for The Guidon’s independence.”
‘Just reporting the facts’
Publicly, administrators have said that The Guidon was suspended this semester because student journalists were unprepared for the task of reporting and that the paper’s standards were not rigorous enough.
“At this time, students do not have to take journalism courses to work on or publish in the paper and they do not have the training and mentorship we feel is necessary to educate and prepare them for this important responsibility,” Norwich Provost Karen Gaines said in an Oct. 10 message to the campus community.
But students and faculty members said that some of the paper’s recent reporting — particularly stories about sexual assault on campus this spring — appeared to rankle the university’s administration.
“There’s a lot of heavy-hitting articles that we had written towards the end of the year,” Kerry McAuley, a second-year Guidon reporter, said in an interview. “And I think obviously the school doesn’t love when the school isn’t spoken about in a great manner. But at the same time, bad things are happening. We report both bad and good. We’re just reporting the facts.”
The suspension had drawn criticism that university leaders were censoring the newspaper. After VTDigger reported on The Guidon’s suspension, Norwich President John Broadmeadow, a retired lieutenant general, issued an Oct. 14 statement saying that the paper would soon be able to resume publishing.
But, Broadmeadow said in the statement, the paper would still be under some administrative oversight. Broadmeadow said that he was ordering a code of journalistic ethics “be drafted for my approval” and that academic advisers to the paper would provide supervision as well.
Such oversight would be unusual among student newspapers at Vermont institutions of higher education.
Marc Kolb, a spokesperson for Norwich University, did not make any Norwich administrators available for interviews and did not answer specific questions about the situation.
“The Guidon has the go ahead to begin publishing without any restrictions, requirements, or oversight from administration, that is the most important thing to know,” Kolb said in an email. “We hope they choose to publish soon. There are multiple advisors to offer a wide variety of perspectives and students can avail themselves of the expertise of their advisors as they see fit.”
In the past month, Norwich has appointed a second academic adviser for The Guidon, Christopher Wiersema, an artist and filmmaker, and set up a “Student Media Advisory Committee” intended to include student representatives from campus media organizations.
According to an October 24 email from Wiersema to students, the committee was working on drafting a code of ethics for student media groups. The committee was also set to consult with a group of editors and reporters from professional Vermont media organizations, including Vermont Public, the Community News Service and the Valley Reporter, according to Wiersema’s email.
Wiersema could not be reached for comment by phone or email Tuesday. Guidon staff interviewed by VTDigger said they believed the advisory group of professional journalists had never materialized. Students with the newspaper said that they have no quarrel with Wiersema, but are skeptical about his appointment.
“It’s really hard to see it, due to everything that’s going on, as anything less than faculty or administrative overreach,” said Owen Clapp, a third-year staff writer.
‘Address and remedy the damage’
Shane Graber, a professor of communications who served as The Guidon’s only academic adviser until Wiersema’s appointment, said all the administration’s recent actions toward the paper have created a “dark cloud” over The Guidon’s reputation.
“The fact that these committees and statements continue to go out — it undermines their work and makes people think, ‘Well, maybe they need this kind of oversight,’” Graber said in an interview. “‘Maybe they’re not competent enough to do good journalism.’ I’m here to tell you that they are.”
On Nov. 5, Guidon staff members published a statement on the website laying out conditions that would need to be met before the news outlet will resume reporting and publishing. The statement was the first post on the university’s website since the spring.
Newspaper staffers are demanding that the university implement policies that allow student journalists to report without oversight or censorship — policies that align with a 2017 Vermont statute, the “New Voices” law, which already protects student journalism at public institutions. As a private university, Norwich is not beholden to that law.
The Guidon is also seeking a retraction of university policies requiring the paper to submit materials or documents for approval from administrators.
Guidon staff want a statement of support from the university’s Department of Global Humanities, as well as a plan from Gaines, Norwich’s provost, “to address and remedy the damage to The Guidon’s reputation, intentional or not, to help restore both the paper’s standing and students’ confidence in its future.”
In interviews, Guidon staffers expressed dismay at the fact that they have not been able to publish. Lilian Lu, a third-year student and editor at The Guidon, said that the lack of reporting from the newspaper means that students may not be aware of events happening at the university.
“Our students aren’t getting to know what’s going on on campus, especially freshmen who are coming in,” Lu said. “This is where they get the most knowledge.”
By suspending the newspaper, the university community is missing out on a variety of student-written stories — many of which would, ironically, reflect well on Norwich, staffers said.
“I think the school could use some positive journalism,” McAuley said.
