Norwich University administrators have been in contention with its student newspaper, The Guidon, over the past year regarding requests for formal ethics codes according to Kerry McAuley, a source in The Guidon staff.
McAuley told The Equinox the issue had started in the fall of 2023 and persisted into spring of 2024 over “hard-hitting” news articles being published regarding sexual assaults on campus and a lack of transparency from the university. The source said this reporting resulted in administrative backlash and suspension of the publication in May 2024.
There continues to be a concern from the paper’s staff of administrative oversight and the scope of editorial independence of The Guidon. The staff of The Guidon continue to voice their desire for independence from administrative overreach.
The editorial independence of student media organizations in private colleges and universities is more difficult to maintain and, therefore, vital to obtain. Norwich University as a private military college, unlike public colleges and universities, has considerable power over the flow of information. This includes accessible information for reporters to do their job and the output of information coming from student media.
The Guidon reporting: Spring 2024
On Jan. 7, 2024, The Guidon reported that “popular president, Mark Anarumo, has surprisingly announced his resignation,” with Anarumo describing to the VTDigger the departure was a “mutual decision” between him and the university. This was followed up with a May 10, 2024 article on the opening of a Title IX lawsuit against the university regarding Anarumo’s conduct. The complainant in the case, former Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations Elizabeth Kennedy, alleged there were “years of inappropriate and sexist behavior” from the former Norwich president according to a VTDigger article. Kennedy alleged in the VTDigger article of an instance from other faculty “who observed President Anarumo hold a female undergraduate student’s legs up at a Norwich fundraising event so that she could perform a ‘keg stand.’”
According to a court filing obtained by the VTDigger, the Title IX case involving Kennedy was settled in November 2024 after mediation with the terms of settlement not disclosed in the filings.
The Equinox has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Washington County Superior Court in Montpelier, Vt. to obtain copies of those court filings.
Months later there was an April 8, 2024, article published by The Guidon regarding sexual assault on campus with no response from Norwich Public Safety (NPS).
The Guidon reported, “Norwich’s Public Safety department typically denies requests for more information on alleged campus criminal cases, and it is unclear whether they maintain such records. Criminal incident records such as this are considered open and protected under state and federal open records laws.”
NPS has also not responded to multiple attempts by The Equinox for clarification regarding this statement published by The Guidon.
Following The Guidon’s reporting, its news staff published a May 2, 2024, article raising concerns over transparency issues regarding sexual assault cases at Norwich.
“With at least two cases of sexual assault reported within a year of each other, The Guidon sought to determine what, if any, steps the administration has made to help prevent incidents like this going forward,” according to its May 2 article.
In The Guidon’s reporting, the administration “failed to answer direct questions” or they “did not return our requests for information or simply declined to answer,” adding this is a trend from administration. According to The Guidon, part of this trend includes “[giving] The Guidon instructions on how exactly quotes can be used.”
The May 2 article added concerns of The Guidon’s efficacy as a student newspaper, saying that “a level of transparency” would benefit news reporting so “independent news organizations [can] fulfill their role as campus watchdogs.” The article reported on an administrator’s concern over the Guidon’s pressure for responses.
One official in particular, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students Gregory McGrath, replied to The Guidon in an email correspondence and stated, “We are disheartened that you requested responses to questions with less than 24-hours/one business day to respond. We will be happy to answer your questions more fully if you can confirm extending your timeline.”
All information acquired by The Equinox from Norwich administration was via email; in-person or phone interviews were declined or met with a lack of a response.
The Suspension
At the end of the spring 2024 semester, The Guidon was suspended from publication according to McAuley, because the administration viewed the publication as having a “lack of ethics.”
This suspension was described as a “pause” by Norwich Provost and Dean of Faculty Karen Gaines, in an article with the VTDigger. Gaines stated, “That [attacks on media] requires us, as stewards of this publication, to be sure our students have what they need to succeed as student journalists and storytellers.”
However, in that VTDigger article, Gaines was quoted as saying in a faculty meeting, “[lack of journalistic training] resulted in some issues of concern raised about how we prepare students, our student journalists, for the responsibilities that they’ve taken on.” While in the faculty meeting, Gaines spoke of concerns with an undisclosed staff member, according to the VTDigger.
In an email to Norwich student body president acquired by VTDigger, McGrath, assistant vice president and dean of students, commented on the provost’s “[dissatisfaction] with the degree of academic rigor in this educational program and are reevaluating how we will move forward.”
McAuley has said the turmoil surrounding the suspension has “soured a lot of my relationships with faculty” and they were being kept at an arm’s length with their reporting. However, McAuley said they feel this has also been a unifying experience for the publication’s staff.
Fall 2024: Current Reporting and Suspension Lift
As the fall semester started, McAuley described the paper’s resistance to continue publishing even after the suspension was lifted. The news staff laid out a list of demands of the administration which can be found in The Guidon’s first publication of the fall semester on Nov. 5, 2024, laying out their demands regarding their editorial independence.
One of the sticking points with the news staff in the November 5 article was a statement by the current president of Norwich University, Lt. General John Broadmeadow in an Oct. 14, 2024, letter to Norwich requiring “a code of ethics grounded in widely established journalism norms be drafted for my approval,” and “a method of ethics oversight by The Guidon’s academic advisors.”
The Guidon stated it “very respectfully decline[s],” with the conditions for a return to publishing as follows:
- Adopt New Voices Protections: The university must implement measures aligned with Vermont’s New Voices law, ensuring the independence of student journalists and protecting our ability to operate without undue influence or censorship.
- Addressing Reputation Impact: We request a clear explanation from the Provost Dr. Karen Gaines regarding the school’s plan to address and remedy the damage to The Guidon’s reputation, intentional or not, to help restore both the paper’s standing and students’ confidence in its future.
- Supportive Statement from DGH: We ask that the Department of Global Humanities adopt a formal statement affirming its support for The Guidon’s independence, including protections from any form of external pressures.
- End External Involvement: We request that any policy requiring The Guidon to submit internal documents for approval be discontinued, and that external influence of any kind cease immediately. This behavior restricts student autonomy and undermines the intellectual freedom essential for an independent press.
The Guidon staff have stated there is slow progress in the negotiations with Gaines and the department of global humanities on resolving their requests. However, The Guidon did report on another sexual assault at the end of the fall 2024 semester on Dec. 20, 2024 and raised concerns of Norwich’s compliance with the Clery Act.
According to the Clery Center website, the Clery Act requires “colleges and universities to report campus crime data and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.”
In their Dec. 20, 2024, article, the issue The Guidon had taken was that, unlike the sexual assault in April 2024, this most recent case had not been reported in the crime logs of NPS.
However, a statement made by Pamela Koppelmann, the Norwich University chief institutional compliance officer, claimed that “[In accordance with the Clery Act], Norwich University issues timely warnings for incidents reported that pose a serious or ongoing threat to the campus community. While sexual assaults are very serious, there is normally no serious or ongoing threat to the campus community.”
Andy Sumner, chief of NPS, was emailed multiple times for commentary and clarification and has not responded. Koppelmann does not appear in the Norwich staff and faculty directory and contact information was not available.
‘Extended Leave’
The Guidon staff confirmed in an interview that over the winter break, Shane Graber, the faculty advisor to The Guidon and assistant professor of communications was put on extended leave. According to the staff, this leaves The Guidon under the supervision of lecturer Chris Wiersema, who was added as an advisor late in the fall 2024 semester and whose background is in the field of media production. Guidon staff are concerned with this development; McAuley stated with regard to Wiersema’s background that, “If we’re trying to recruit people, we have to teach them ourselves, whereas Shane [Graber] could help a lot with that.”
Guidon staff member Owen Clapp stated that, “Even though there were still struggles and things that we’re still fighting for, that hadn’t been resolved. I felt like we were gaining some momentum and to some degree, it almost feels like we’re back at square one.”
Clapp added, “It felt like we held Professor Wiersema away from us with a six-foot pole, we didn’t fully know what to make of him. It felt like it could have been administrative overreach but there wasn’t really certainty, so we didn’t want to be too close to him. We felt really close to [Graber], so it’s just awkward to see him [Wiersema] almost by default be put into the position of being our only advisor now.”
McAuley stated she feels that now Graber is no longer an advisor there has been a shift of mood from the chair of the Global Humanities department Amy Woodbury-Tease, the department The Guidon now falls under.
McAuley added, “[Woodbury-Tease] and the dean [McGrath] were our biggest enemies in this whole situation and now that he [Graber] is gone, from what Wiersema said, it seems like she is completely on our side now. [Woodbury-Tease] wants to provide us funding [and] brought up quarterly prints; that was the impression I got, that she was being more receptive now that he is gone,” added McAuley.
Another staff member, Andrii Shadrin, commented that Woodbury-Tease being more receptive “doesn’t make any sense because he [Graber] was the only tenure-track professor in communications in general, so now about 20 students in communications [are] without any professors with Ph.D teaching us. He was supposed to get his tenure protection this next semester [fall 2025.]”
Latest Developments
The Guidon staff have voiced that they are leery of the situation; however, their requests have taken a reduced priority as there is no active pressure from the administration. The Guidon staff voiced their desire for the return of Graber saying, “We need that optimism.”
Amy Woodbury-Tease was emailed for comment multiple times and did not respond.
Andy Sumner was emailed for comment multiple times and did not respond.
Marc Kolb, director of campus and athletic communications, was emailed multiple times and did not respond to follow-up questions or clarifications.
Wiersema was emailed for comment multiple times and did not respond.
Graber was not available for comment for undisclosed reasons.
Timothy Fitzpatrick can be contacted at
tfitzpatrick@kscequinox.com
