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The Daily Tar Heel

Hundreds of copies of the N.C. Central University student newspaper have been found either moved without permission or trashed.

After Campus Echo, the student-led newspaper, released two controversial stories in October and November, there were several incidences of illicit moving and trashing of copies in bulk.

Newspaper theft is considered a crime.

The offenders have not been identified because, according to administrators, campus security cameras do not overlook the newspaper boxes in the buildings where the papers were moved.

In early October, the newspaper published “Business School Blues”— an article about the dismissal of the NCCU business school dean.

After publication, boxes containing issues of the school’s paper were covertly moved from the business school to obscure locations.

A month later, a second instance occurred after an article titled “Sociability Shortage in Sociology” was published. The story detailed an incident in a teacher’s sociology class in which the paper reports she called a student racist.

According to the article, the issue led to a student’s dismissal.

Hundreds of copies of the paper were taken from two buildings and trashed in a dumpster on the university’s campus.

Ashley Griffin, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief who wrote the article about the sociology class issue, responded to the incident with an editorial expressing her disappointment in her fellow students.

Griffin also encouraged the school to issue a public statement to condemn the actions taken against the newspaper.

“I was very upset because these were two of our biggest stories of the year,” Griffin said.

In response to Griffin’s editorial, NCCU Associate Provost Debbie Thomas e-mailed the students and faculty.

“Attempts to suppress unpleasant news are offensive and contrary to everything we stand for at our university, where the free exchange of information should not be impeded,” Thomas said in the e-mail.

Griffin said the paper would continue to write about controversial issues in a professional manner despite the resistance.

Bruce Depyssler, the newspaper’s adviser, said this has been the first such incident to happen in the 10 years he has worked at the paper.

Both Depyssler and Griffin said they did not feel their First Amendment rights had been infringed upon by these acts.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.

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