The President of Loyola University Chicago is defending a faculty member that scolded student journalists for asking questions.

President Jo Ann Rooney of Loyola University Chicago is defending an internal media policy at the school that directs questions for faculty to their media relations team. When students at the school newspaper were preparing a report on above-average representation of women in the STEM fields at the school, they were repeatedly ignored by faculty members. Eventually, they were told that an internal policy limits their ability to speak with faculty member on university matters.

University spokesperson Evangeline Politis scolded a student journalist in an email, calling the student’s conduct “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.

Now, Loyola University Chicago President Jo Ann Rooney is defending the internal media policy. Last week, she argued that the policy has been misrepresented by the student newspaper. Rooney said that the policy is justified because the university can be sued for misinformation published in the paper.

“Accuracy matters, and in the case of the Phoenix, the University is liable and has been held liable for inaccurate reporting,” Rooney said in an email to the student newspaper.

The university spokesperson provided a vague statement on Rooney’s reaction to the student newspaper’s criticism of the university policy. “I am aware that the president responded to Henry Redman,” Politis wrote in a short statement. “She shared that, in the short term, our vice president is coordinating meetings with the Loyola Phoenix and the School of Communication, and in the longer term, he is convening a task force to review the University’s media policy and any relevant policies of the Loyola Phoenix. The aim of both initiatives is to foster more effective ways of working with the newspaper and better serve the Loyola community.”

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