By AFRO Staff
the board of directors of College Media Advisers has decided to censure Morgan State over its decision to not renew Brown's contract.
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(July 28, 2009) - A national journalism organization has censured Morgan State University in Baltimore for its firing of the student media adviser at the school and its attempts to deny students their First Amendment rights, the school’s newspaper, the Spokesman, reported.
The board of directors of College Media Advisers voted the censure following an investigation by CMA into the June 30, 2009, firing of student media adviser Denise Brown.
The letter of censure, sent to Morgan State President Earl S. Richardson, raises concerns about the way the university handled Brown's case. In addition, CMA is concerned that the present academic and student affairs environments are not conducive to healthy journalism and student media programs at Morgan State.
Specific concerns raised in the letter of censure include the following findings by CMA Adviser Advocate Christopher Evans
* Brown was removed from her position as adviser on June 30, 2009, as a result of her students exercising their civil and First Amendment rights by publishing a series of news stories and editorials that were critical of the university administration.
* Administrators indicated to Brown and others they wanted to know the source(s) of the student journalists' information.
* Other university documents indicate that Brown conveyed to administrators that students preferred to meet as a group, but she received no response to this suggestion. The administration's next move on this matter was, months later, to let Brown know that her job was in jeopardy for not producing the students individually.
The CMA would like to work with Morgan State to reappoint Denise Brown as student media adviser and to implement and develop governing documents for student media that will allow students to produce products without review and or challenges by administrators.