We are alumni and supporters of The Phoenix, Loyola University Chicago's award-winning student newspaper.

This petition is intended to register our concern and disgust over the way Loyola President Jo Ann Rooney and her administration have treated The Phoenix and staff and, by extension, the readers who are comprised largely of students.

The efforts by Rooney's administration to stifle the flow of information — about sexual violence against students and street violence in the neighborhood, among other topics — and otherwise try to exert control over the editorial direction of The Phoenix are totally unacceptable, beyond decency and in contrast with the stated values of the school.

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Readers of The Phoenix — including students paying hefty tuition and expecting a solid education and an academic environment fostering intellectual freedom — deserve better than ham-handed attempts at censorship and self-serving public relations maneuvers.

Voice your concern to Rooney by emailing lsnyde2@luc.edu or calling 312-915-6411.