OKLAHOMA — The University of Tulsa is investigating an
incident in which copies of
The Collegian, the school’s student
newspaper, were stolen and then placed back on news stands with unauthorized
inserts.
The inserts included a picture taken from Facebook.com of
Collegian Managing Editor Thursday Bram extending her middle finger. The
fliers also included the Web site address of her online journal. Bram said she
believes copies of the
Collegian were taken the evening before the Nov.
14 issue was published and that the fliers were inserted in about 700 copies of
the paper.
The Collegian is a weekly newspaper with a circulation of
4,000.
Bram said she also received threatening messages on Facebook. Bram
filed a complaint with the Office of Student Affairs and campus security and
students removed the inserts. Copies of the newspaper were later redistributed
to news stands.
The incident was an apparent response to an article
written by Bram about an investigation into the student government’s
allocation procedures. The article said that organizations with close ties to
student government members might have been receiving funds for member-only
events, against the school’s policies.
Bram called the incident
“an ill-thought out response” to her story.
“Everything
about the flyer seems less than thought out to me,” Bram said. “If a
person reads an article they can’t attack on the basis of fact, they
attack the character for the writer.”
David Hamby, spokesman for
the university, said a group of individuals, whose names have not been released,
have been identified as possibly being involved in the incident. He said those
individuals are currently going through the university’s disciplinary
process.
Bram said those involved are connected with a fraternity
mentioned in her article. But Hamby would not confirm whether the individuals
being investigated have affiliations with the fraternity.
Student
Association President Layne Fisher, who was mentioned in Bram’s article
and is a member of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity, denied that the incident was
retaliation from his organization.
“I am not sure who put the
fliers, whether they are part of [Student Association] or [Kappa Alpha], in the
papers,” Fisher said. “But it is not something that either the Student
Association or Kappa Alpha Order supported.”
Hamby said the results
of the disciplinary process will be completed by the end of the
semester.
“The university is taking the matter seriously,”
Hamby said. “We acted promptly when notified of the event in terms of
getting the unauthorized inserts out of the newspaper and with the disciplinary
process.”
Bram said she is seeking specific sanctions for the
individuals involved.
“I am hoping they will, as a form of
community service, be asked to investigate the dangers and abuses of sites like
Facebook and to educate their peers on those issues,” Bram said.
By Marnette Federis, SPLC staff writer
