By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

HUTCHINSON — About 400 copies of the Hutchinson Community College’s student newspaper, the Collegian, reportedly were seized by school administration Friday, one of the paper’s reporters said Monday.

Jeff Leddy, student reporter, said he had taken the newspapers to the college’s student union to distribute them when the head of college security approached him and said he had been directed by the vice president of academic affairs to take the papers.

About 100 of the 500 papers in the press run had already been put in racks, but Leddy said he did not know where the rest of the papers were taken.

RELATED: College president says papers were taken so they could be delivered.

Although Leddy was not informed why the papers were taken, he said he thought it might be because of a story about a work-study student assigned to the journalism department being removed from a lab.

Friday’s incident comes after a semester of contention between college administration and student journalists and the paper’s adviser.

The adviser and student reporters first came under scrutiny in December after the paper printed a story about disciplinary actions taken against a member of the nursing department.

Leddy and other students were brought up on disciplinary charges, including academic dishonesty. The college asked Leddy and other students to sign immunity letters that would bar them from talking about the proceeding in the future. He and other students refused to sign the agreements.

Leddy said he and other student journalists had further investigated the college’s disciplinary policies, but opted to not publish the stories for fear of reprisal.

He said he believed the work-study student who was removed from her lab was targeted because of her association with the student newspaper.

Leddy said the paper’s adviser, Alan Montgomery, had been suspended, as well, and the students’ remaining week of journalism courses would be canceled.

Carter File, the college’s president, told Hays Post Monday morning that copies of the Collegian were out in racks and he would look into allegations that papers were seized.

He said the college was in the middle of a personnel issue, but would not confirm Montgomery was suspended.

Monday afternoon, File told Hays Post that the newspapers were, in fact, taken from Leddy, but that because the journalism classes had been canceled, the newspapers were given to the student council for distribution to students.

Montgomery was not available for immediate comment.

Max Kautsch, Kansas Press Association attorney, said the seizure of the papers was a clear violation of constitutional rights.

“The real story here is the college locking up newspapers,” he said. “It is a clear violation of the students’ First Amendment rights.”

The student newspaper is partially supported by student fees. Kautsch said the role of the administration needs to be better defined.

“The college obviously believes it can do whatever it wants,” he said, “and the students think they are independent. That is where ligation comes in.”

Although Kautsch suggested the students had grounds for a lawsuit, Leddy, 24, said he would not likely file one, saying a federal lawsuit would be too costly to pursue.

Leddy said he still does not know if he remains under investigation by the college.

Leddy, in his second year at the college, said he will not return to HCC in the fall, but transfer to Wichita State University where he plans to study journalism. Leddy is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and said he preferred to take his GI bill dollars elsewhere.

“I do not feel welcome here, especially when I don’t know what is happening,” he said. “There is an air of hostility and suspicion and the constant targeting of us at the student publication.”