Paper Resumes Circulation After University Suspension

CHICAGO--DePaul University's student newspaper, the DePaulia, resumed circulation this week, after university officials suspended publication on Friday, October 9.

The suspension occurred when the 60-year-old campus weekly printed a story on a campus rape incident against the orders of the director of student publications, Allen Kipp.

When the paper began distribution last Friday at 9:30 a.m., campus security guards, aided by Chicago police, confiscated 7500 copies of that issue. "We managed to escape with 800 copies," Vince Kellen, the DePaulia's editor, said on Monday.

At 1 p.m. that afternoon, Kipp announced that publication of the paper would be suspended indefinitely. Early on Saturday, however, Kellen received a call informing him that Rev. John D. Richardson, president of DePaul University, had reversed the suspension decision, and that the university senate subcommittee would convene on Monday to determine "the propriety of the withdrawal of the issue."

After the subcommittee--comprised of students, faculty and staff--met, Richardson authorized the editor of the DePaulia to reissue the confiscated October 9 issue and distribute it throughout the university.

The controversy began when Kellen decided to publish a story about a student who was raped on campus. "We were told not to print the story to 'protect the victim'," Kellen said, adding that he did protect the student "morally and legally" by withholding the name, and that he ran the story because "the students have a right to know." Kellen said that school officials tried to suppress the story to avoid unfavorable publicity about campus security.

The DePaulia is financially dependent on the university, and a set of guidelines states that "the University waives the right of prepublication censorship on the condition that the professional services of the director of student publications are used, and that his advice and council are followed."

Kellen said "the guidelines are ambiguous. If Kipp advises prior restraint, that's both advising and prepublication censorship."

Richardson said the senate subcommittee will reconvene at a latter date to review DePaul's guidelines and policies toward student publications.