Wednesday September 13, 2017 CastletonSpartan.com Castleton, Vermont Huot backs out Controversy with press at Keene State College was revealed by student editor By Carly Trombley Castleton Spartan Vermont State Colleges Chancellor Jeb Spaulding sent an email to all Castleton Uni- versity students and staff last Thursday saying presidential candidate Anne Huot decided to withdraw from the race. According to the email from Spaulding, Huot, one of four candidates seeking to re- place Dave Wolk, is dealing with family issues that will COURTESTY KEENE SENTINEL prevent her from being the uni- versity’s new president. Anne Huot However, Olivia Belanger, and request an interview. Then, the editor in chief of The Equi- the two of them would decide nox - the student newspaper when it was best to meet up, from Keene State College - according to DelSesto. reached out to The Spartan “We even started to report last week regarding a public in our stories, ‘during this in- dispute between Huot and The terview, Kelly Ricarte was Equinox when she was presi- present,’ so that our readers dent at Keene State. were aware of what’s happen- “About half-way through ing,” Belanger said. “It got to my freshman year is when we the point where people were started noticing things,” said afraid to talk to us because they Belanger, now a senior. were afraid for their jobs.” According to Belanger, dur- The Equinox also sought ing Huot’s time as president of help from the national Student Keene State, the student media Press Law Center, a legal out- organizations faced major dif- let that protects student me- ficulties, such as budget cuts, dia nationwide, which in turn forced chaperoned interviews wrote a strongly worded letter with administrators and faculty to Huot’s replacement saying and frequently denied inter- what the school is doing to view requests from faculty and the student press is wrong and needs fixing. staff. SELDON HILL / CASTLETON SPARTAN “It got to the point last year According to Huot, none of where our PR (Public Rela- this happened. John LaBrie, left, and Steven Siconolfi, right, are two of the remining three candidates for president tions) director, Kelly Ricarte, Last week, after Belanger’s of Castleton University. Karen Scolforo is the third candidate and is on campus today. The fourth would sit in on most of our email, The Spartan reached candidate, Anne Huot, recently withdrew from the race. interviews with anybody,” Be- out to Huot and despite her langer said. saying she was in a hurricane When asked for an inter- Irma-affected part of Florida view on the matter, Ricarte and not available for a phone said that she would not com- interview, she did respond via ment on the story. email. According to The Equinox “It simply is not the case advisor, Julio DelSesto, stu- that there was a requirement Wolk’s sucessor? dent reporters would be redi- for a PR representative to be rected to the school’s public present at all interviews,” Huot relations department by nearly said. “I have clarified several Two of the potential candidates for president every faculty member when times my position that stu- asked for an interview. dents, faculty and staff should speak freely with wour student have visited campus, the last wraps up today “We even started to report in our By Brigitta Gough And Steven Siconolfi, who Spaulding said. on campus. Castleton Spartan visited campus late last week, But Spaulding said there “Everybody has had a stories, ‘during this interview, has a Ph.D. in Exercise Physi- are also many positives to voice,” Mango said. The search to replace Cas- ology from Kent State Univer- someone from outside of She said committee Chair- Kelly Ricarte was present,’ so that tleton University President sity and is senior vice presi- Castleton becoming the new man Tim Jerman and Spauld- Dave Wolk had been narrowed dent and provost at Mansfield president. ing have been good about our readers were aware of what’s down last week to four candi- University. “The advantage of having making sure everyone voices dates – and none were from In a phone interview, Ver- someone new come in is that opinions throughout the pro- happening,” Castleton. mont State Colleges’ Chan- you have new experiences, dif- cess because they want to The final candidates includ- cellor Jeb Spaulding said the ferent experiences and bring a make sure that everyone is in ed Anne Huot, John LaBrie, search for a new president of fresh set of eyes,” he said. agreement. - Olivia Belanger, Editor of Keene Karen Scolforo, and Steven Castleton University has been Siconolfi has written many Asked about none of the Siconolfi. going smoothly. He said the Peer-Reviewed articles for candidates being from Castle- State College’s newspaper, The But Huot, who resigned committee responsible for journals about exercise physi- ton, both O’Hara and Mango in June as president of Keene finding Wolk’s replacement ology and has helped in many said that it can be positive Equinox State College, dropped out of has worked well together and research projects including because they will bring a new the race on Friday citing fam- is a strong team. some for NASA, one of his perspective to Castleton. ily issues. Although none of the can- former employers. He also “We have a wide array of reporters and the press.” “The way it was framed by LaBrie, who visited cam- didates are from the Castle- has experience as a professor candidates,” O’Hara said. She said that if she is to be the communications office was pus mid-week, has an Ed.D. ton University community, at multiple institutions includ- The candidates have all selected as Castleton Univer- that they would be there to as- in Higher Education Manage- Spaulding pointed out they all ing Ithaca College and Wayne worked in different institutions sity’s next president that she sist us and put us in touch with ment from the University of have worked in New England State University. and have had different experi- would, as she did at Keene the right people,” Delsesto Pennsylvania. at some point. Search Committee mem- ences that Spaulding, Mango State, ensure that there is a said. “We’ve never had trouble Karen Scolforo has an “It was one of the con- bers Helen Mango and Mariah and O’Hara believe will be positive relationship between getting in touch with the right Ed.D. in Educational Leader- siderations that if they’re not O’Hara agree that the commit- helpful to Castleton’s growth the administration and the stu- people.” ship from University of North local to Rutland County that tee worked very well together as a university. dent press. Before Huot, reporters Florida and is currently the they do have an appreciation and both said they are excited Then came the decision to needed only to reach out to president at Central Penn Col- for the New England mindset, to meet the candidates over the See ‘The race’ on page 6 the professor or staff member See ‘Candidate’ on page 6 lege. and that was important to us,” next two weeks while they are Bernie coming to unveil free tuition plan By Brigitta Gough Weld said Sanders wanted to colleges and universities. Castleton Spartan make the announcement at a “It will promote more kids Vermont college. to go to college,” Merrone Get ready to feel the Bern “Castleton is one of the said. again on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in most affected [colleges],” Hampl said that he thinks Castleton University’s Glen- Weld said. free tuition is a great idea as brook Gymnasium. Castleton University is a well, but he has his concerns. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sand- public university so it would “There will need to be an ers is coming to campus to be one of the universities stu- individualization of the plan propose his plan for a legis- dents could attend for free. state to state,” Hampl said. lation that would give free Two seniors at Castleton, This is one of many chal- tuition to all students who go Zach Hampl and Cam Mer- lenges that Hampl believes to any public college or uni- rone, who were asked for their will need to be addressed with versity in the country, Dean of thoughts about Sanders com- this legislation. Advancement Jeff Weld said ing to campus, said they’re ex- Pertaining to Sander’s ini- in an interview on Friday. cited but not surprised he was tiative Merrone said, “I think it The event will be open to coming to Castleton. will be a good thing for people all and it will be live-streamed Hampl said he believes to hear.” at other colleges and universi- Sanders is popular in Castleton Efforts to get comments ties during hundreds of rallies so it makes sense that Castle- from Sanders’ office regarding across the country, Weld said. ton University was chosen as the visit were unsuccessful. When asked why Castle- the location for this proposal. ton was chosen for this event, And both agreed that this COUTRESY PHOTO legislation will be great for Bernie Sanders visited in 2014 and is scheduled to return this October. Editorial wPage 2 s News wPages 3 & 4 s A&E wPage 5 s Front & Back wPage 6 s Sports wPage 7 s Sports wPage 8 2 - Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017 CASTLETON SPARTAN, Castleton University Free press is vital at CU By Carly Trombley People are always ques- Castleton Spartan tioning the truth and reliabil- ity of the media and it is defi- Since my freshman year at nitely discouraging being a Castleton, I’ve been working student who wants to get into for The Spartan newspaper on that business.