The last words former adjunct instructor Ted Daniels left me with before departing the campus of Ashland University: “Be a thorn in the side of the administration.”
That is what I will continue to do.
The Collegian has faced more in the first two weeks before classes start than in years past.
Before coming back, I emailed Dr. Aaron Ross, the assistant to AU president Dr. Carlos Campo, to set up biweekly interviews with the president to comment on different stories the editors were working on and for the first interview to be set for the week of August 14.
Ross told me that the president was unavailable till August 31, so I tried asking, saying how important it was to ensure our stories were accurate and ensure that students, faculty, and the community had all the correct information. He responded that the president is busy and has no time in his schedule, so I accepted the interview on August 31.
When I returned to campus, I emailed him again asking if there was any time in the president’s schedule for an interview for the week of August 14, and there was nothing again. I tried multiple times to get ahold of scheduling an interview with the president, but all attempts failed.
The stories that we needed comments from the president were:
– The DEI name change
– The budget
– Enrollment
– Dr. Campo’s departure from the university
I understand that Dr. Campo has a busy schedule, but these stories are for the students and The Collegian wanted accurate information.
I remember on Friday, August 18, the Ashland Source posted an article about a reflection on Dr. Campo’s nine years at Ashland University. In the article, it referenced how the interview took place on August 16.
Here is what I am confused about why he would have time in his schedule to talk to the Ashland Source, but not to the student-run newspaper at Ashland University, The Collegian after I was told the president only has time on August 31.
I was frustrated by this because I had been trying to reach and set up an interview for a while.
That was only the first major problem of the week. Later that week, The Collegian staff found out our adviser would be told to leave the university roughly a week before classes started. This caused a major issue, and why was he being told to leave.
The university told our adviser, Ted Daniels, he could no longer teach because The Collegian was doing “too much investigative journalism”. I thought this was the whole point of journalism was to investigate what is going on and report on what is happening.
This year, I am going to stand by Ted Daniel’s words and continue to find what is going on, and to make sure students, faculty, and the community are getting the correct information.
The Collegian will continue to be the news source for all things Ashland University and find the truth wherever it is hiding.
Cassandra • Sep 26, 2023 at 12:31 pm
I’m so proud that investigative journalism cannot be censored. Keep fighting and representing our first amendment rights. Be the thorn!
Jeff Putz • Aug 31, 2023 at 3:20 pm
The campus looks different, but things don’t change much otherwise. I was a columnist from 1993 to 1995, and I regularly called out administrative nonsense. Got called into the business manager’s office once, the No. 2 of the university. He tried to strong-arm me about something, but I didn’t budge.
The stuff you describe with your advisor is the reason I still don’t donate money to the school. The primary concern is not education. Too much small pond/big fish stuff.
Bree Gannon • Aug 30, 2023 at 12:05 pm
I was the managing editor for the Collegian from 2018-2019 and we decided as a staff to report on the president’s son being arrested for drugs and child endangering. I was the only “reporter” in all of Ashland County that wrote an article about what was happening. The then facility advisor and Dave, had decided to let myself and the rest of the staff make the decisions of moving forward with the story. I didn’t want them to be involved or get any reprimands from what I had decided to do as the Managing Editor. Once the first story was published, the university had contacted the facility advisor to let them know what we were doing was wrong and they had wanted us to pull the story, which in turn was a form of media censorship. I decided then to be the sole person that was going to continue the stories so none of the other staff got in trouble. After doing so I received threats from people within the family and also had many emails sent about me and the stories I was writing. Long story short, this isn’t the first time the university and the higher ups have tried to censor the media. It’s super disappointing that their only reason for firing, what seems like a great advisor, is for the sole fact that they don’t like what is being published. The goal of JDM and the university, is to prepare their students for life after college. JDM is one of the top programs that really helps set their students up for success post grad life and also helps them to learn what parts they like about journalism as a whole. Investigative journalism is part of that and is also a huge contributor to how we as media consumers get information that might not be available. I am so heartbroken to hear that the university cares more about their own agenda than their students but that’s always been their agenda from day one. Keep the university as clean as possible. I stand with your words and the horrible decision made by the university in letting Ted go. I think this should be bigger news than what is is
Kaitlyn Reynolds • Aug 30, 2023 at 1:39 pm
That was an incredibly stressful time for everyone in the newsroom. It happened so long ago but it makes me angry just remembering it, and I was just the feature section editor. Bree shouldered so much animosity from so many directions. It is frustrating to no end to see this continue to happen, but I am very glad to see the next generation upholding these values and continuing to do the hard work. I am very proud of all of you!