Loyola University Chicago Scolds Student Journalists for Emailing Faculty Members

Loyola University Chicago scolded student journalists for directly contacting faculty members instead of its public relations office.

According to a report from The College Fix, Loyola University Chicago has bizarrely scolded a group of student journalists who contacted faculty members for a story on gender representation at the university.

The story, which was set to focus on the above-average representation of women in the STEM fields at the school, was quickly brought to a halt after officials from the university’s media relations office intercepted emails from students to faculty members with the knowledge to speak on the issue.

After reaching out to a faculty member, one student reporter received an email from university spokesperson Evangeline Politis. In the email, Politis said that the reporter’s conduct was “disrespectful and unacceptable.”

This is the third inquiry on this topic that has been forwarded my way, and I’ve been notified of several others. This is disrespectful and unacceptable. As I indicated in my email this morning (attached), I am the first point of contact for the Phoenix for University-related requests. I can get in touch with administration and faculty to answer your questions. I can work with Brian to answer your numbers questions (please send those along), and let me know of any other gaps in your story that I can facilitate fulfilling.

To make the situation even stranger, the student journalists released a video, entitled “Loyola’s Student Media Policy is Straight Out of the Trump Playbook,” comparing the school’s media relations policy to the mainstream media’s often tumultuous relationship with the Trump administration.

Student journalists at Loyola University Chicago are now required to go directly to the university media relations office when they want to speak with any faculty member. It is likely that this policy only applies to matters that specifically pertain to the university. In this case, only the university may hold the insight into why they have admitted more women than men into their STEM programs.

But if a reporter wanted to speak, for example, with a biology professor about biology, that most likely wouldn’t be an issue. Despite this, it is important that university faculty are free to speak on university matters, especially those on with which they hold unique expertise.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.