The Post-Dispatch ran a story today about the ongoing battle at Saint Louis University between communications professor Avis Meyer and the university administrators.

At issue is Meyer’s involvement in the student newspaper — The University News — where he was once the paper’s official adviser. Meyer has continued to volunteer his time at U News on production nights for decades.

SLU is now threatening to physically bar Meyer from the newsroom:

“In my professional judgment, your presence in the newsroom, on balance, no longer contributes to the smooth functioning of the paper and is not advancing students’ best interests,” SLU Provost Joseph Weixlmann wrote in an e-mail to Meyer a few weeks ago.

If Meyer doesn’t comply, Weixlmann wrote, “I will be forced to take actions to block your access to the newsroom.”

Meyer insists that the students want his help, and says he’s “not backing down.”

The administration offered this by way of explanation:

University spokesman Jeff Fowler said some students have told administrators privately that Meyer’s disagreements with the university’s appointed newspaper adviser have created confusion and a tense atmosphere.

Last year, SLU filed an “unrelated” suit against Meyer because of alleged copyright infringement over his use of the name “The University News” in creating a nonprofit corporation.

In the spring of 2007, SLU began rewriting the newspaper’s charter, a move that some student editors believed was an attempt to take editorial control of the paper. But SLU officials repeatedly have said their aim was to improve the quality of the paper, which they said was plagued with grammatical and reporting errors.

Meyer said he created the corporation in case the paper wanted to move off-campus if they rejected the SLU’s new charter. He said he terminated the corporation once the student editors decided to accept the changes and stay on campus. The administration had threatened to kick the paper off campus and force it to change its name if it didn’t accept the changes.

[Meyer] says that ought to have ended the matter.

But the university filed suit in October seeking assurances that he will not use the university’s name in the future and reimbursement of its attorneys’ fees. Those started at about $6,000, and the meter is running.

By this point, I was having the nagging feeling that there was something more to this story. A suspicion that in fact this was yet another school administration attempt to censor student journalism.

I suspected this because of my own experience in student journalism. At my university, the College of William and Mary, I write for (and am now Executive Editor of) the independent student newspaper The Virginia Informer. Our investigative stories and criticism of the (former) administration won us the contempt of school administrators and brought repeated efforts to silence, muffle, or marginalize our voice on campus. This year, William and Mary was given the worst possible rating by the campus free speech watchdog organization Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).

And after a little investigating of the University News archives, it turns out I was right — at issue here is not really ”legal battles” over intellectual property or Meyer’s hindering the “smooth operation of the paper” — it’s freedom of the press and the independence of student journalism at SLU.

Meyer believes he is being targeted because the SLU administration blames him for articles critical of the president and school administrators:

Meyer, who has hired an attorney, says he believes the real reason for the suit is because SLU officials blame him for the newspaper’s sometimes critical editorials about the administration and school policies.

“In my opinion, Biondi is a very vindictive man and he’s out to get me,” Meyer said, referring to the university’s president, the Rev. Lawrence Biondi. “He’s convinced, I believe, that every time something goes in the paper that (attacks or makes fun) of him that I’m behind it.”

While he acknowledges that he is often critical of Biondi, Meyer said his function at The University News consists mainly of helping out with copy editing — fixing grammar and writing headlines. He said he only gives students story ideas and feedback when they ask for it.

While Biondi and the administration deny this charge, it seems that their causus belli about Meyer having a disruptive and “confusing” influence on the paper vis-a-vis the administration-appointed adviser is rather thin, as evidenced by Meyer’s apparently steadfast support from the newspaper staff and the student body.

Andrew Emmerich was the newspaper’s op/ed editor in the fall of 2007 and graduated in December. He said Young and Meyer would sometimes disagree on ideological issues, such as whether the newspaper should write about its charter fight with the university. Emmerich said he found that dialogue exciting — the kind of conversations that should be taking place in a newsroom.

“Dr. Meyer is such a valued asset to the paper,” Emmerich said. Besides, he added, “How can you stop someone from volunteering his time?”

Letters to the editor also evidenced support for Meyer from the student body, with one student arguing that the ongoing battle against Meyer was simply an assault on freedom of the press and personal animosity between Biondi and Meyer.

It’s no secret that for years Rev. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., has wanted Meyer gone. Perhaps it’s because time after time Meyer stands with students while the university president would rather he toe the administrative line.

A petition supporting Meyer has already gained more than 275 signatures. Alumni have also written letters expressing their displeasure with the conduct of President Biondi.

There was also a backlash against the administration’s rewriting of the University News’ charter last year, as evidenced by multiple letters to the editor from SLU students. Many students saw the move as a blatant power grab by the administration to “seize control of an 86-year-old publication that has until now retained its independence…”

In fact, the new, administration-approved charter allegedly allows:

…SLU administrators a final say over the appointment and dismissal of every member of The U News editorial board and staff. The resulting newspaper would undeniably be devoid of articles that reflect negatively on SLU’s administrative policy; its staff would operate under a constant fear of dismissal should they choose to print anything that any SLU administrator considers cause for removal. What good is a paper that is afraid to print what should be printed?

This latest development seems almost comical in its pettiness. Threatening to physically bar Meyer from the newsroom? When it’s clear that the newspaper staff want him there, value his input, and appreciate his volunteered time?

The administration cited anonymous “students” who “complained” about Meyer’s presence creating a “tense atmosphere” with the administration-appointed advisor — but didn’t identify them or even say how many had approached them about the issue. Meanwhile, many students were willing to put their name to interviews, signed letters to the editor, and petitions supporting Meyer.

University spokesman Jeff Fowler’s comments on the adviser issue spoke volumes:

Over the summer, the university hired Jason Young to be the first full-time staff person devoted to advising the newspaper. So now that the school has Young on board, there is no need for Meyer to be a second adviser, Fowler said.

“We think it serves everybody to have one voice as an adviser,” Fowler said. “You shouldn’t have two people with different ideas causing confusion.”

“You shouldn’t have two people with different ideas causing confusion”? At a newspaper? Maybe it’s just me, but I was under the impression that newspapers — especially student newspapers — should be precisely the place for ”different ideas” to be debated and discussed. While having “one voice,” i.e. unanimity of opinion (directed solely by an administration-appointed adviser, of course) might be desirable to the SLU administration, differences in opinion at the U News should be seen as a strength — not a weakness.

If Meyer wants to volunteer his time to the student publication, and the newspaper staff want him there, who is to say that he should be prohibited from doing so? It certainly shouldn’t be the place of a school administration that has shown itself averse to criticism and has clearly proven it wants to assert control over the paper’s content.

To me, the assault on Meyer appears to be an attempt to put the final nail in the coffin of freedom of the press at SLU by removing the last remaining independent influence at the University News.