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NMU professor and student file federal suit against board of student newspaper

Margaret Von Steinen

MARQUETTE, MI--   Faculty adviser Cheryl Reed and managing editor Michael Williams have filed a federal lawsuit against five members of The North Wind Board of Directors. 

The suit states the board’s failure to rehire Reed for next year and refusal to consider Williams for editor in chief were an attempt to silence the press and violated the pair’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.  It was filed Thursday in Marquette Federal Court and names vice-president of enrollment and student services Steven Neiheisel and four student board members as defendants. 

The lawsuit says the board’s actions were in retaliation for stories that painted the university in a bad light.  The stories include a charge of secrecy over a Starbucks contract with the university and Freedom of Information Act requests for emails that allegedly indicate Neiheisel campaigned against Reed when he met individually with board members before they voted not to rehire her.     

Neiheisel and the board deny all charges. 

Reed and Williams also filed a request for an injunction stopping the board from hiring anyone else for their positions. 

To view the Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction click here.
 

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.
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