TRENTON, N.J.
Trustees at a southern New Jersey community college have agreed to permanently reinstate a student newspaper faculty adviser whose removal had sparked protests from journalism groups and even criticism from a federal judge.
The reinstatement was part of a settlement announced last week by the Ocean County College Board of Trustees and student journalists who had sued the school. It also calls for the creation of a new student media advisory board at the college in Toms River.
The students had filed a lawsuit last summer, several months after the trustees voted against renewing the contract of Karen Bosley, who at the time had been the adviser of the college’s Viking News for 35 years.
The suit claimed administration officials had violated their First Amendment rights, claiming her removal was retaliation for stories and opinion pieces that were critical of college President Jon Larson and his administration.
