It's to FAU from Sally Renaud, president of College Media Advisers. CMA has represented and defended advisers since 1954.
I've been a member since 2001. Twice I've needed the services of CMA's Adviser Advocacy Committee, which investigates "advisers being punished, removed, reassigned and otherwise maligned at the hands of college and university administrators and student government officials."
In 2004, Student Government tried to fine me and fire me after the University Press revealed SG leaders had secretly given themselves 25-percent retroactive pay raises.
CMA leaders phoned and emailed SG leaders and administrators and helped ease the tensions. Now that same committee has chatted with FAU officials once again. But the results haven't been as rosy.
In her letter, Renaud chastised Student Affairs...
The practices at FAU – including missteps over Koretzky’s unofficial advising status, open and closed meetings and perceived threats to students – have done little to encourage a nurturing student media environment in the newsroom.
But then she added...
Neither have the blogs by the newspaper editor and Koretzky, which have continued to fire the controversy.
In extreme cases, CMA "censures" schools that it believes are hostile to advisers who support a free college press. While that's certainly true at FAU, it's also true I haven't gone quietly into that good night. And neither have the UP editors. I suppose that doesn't make us sympathetic victims. But we believe in fighting our own battles.
While a CMA censure carries no tangible punishment, it's certainly an embarrassment. Only five schools in the country are currently under censure. FAU would be, by far, the largest school on the list. (Coincidentally, the enrollment of all five censured schools totals FAU's enrollment of 27,000.)
The deciding factor may be how CMA perceives the hiring of Michael Douglas as assistant student media director...
CMA will be vigilant about circumstances at FAU to ensure that the new adviser – assistant director – is a person with strong credentials and with the advising capability to assist all three media.
That doesn't sound like Douglas.
TOMORROW: What do I do now?
