COD Says It Did Not Violate Open Meetings Act; Board Room Was 'Over Capacity'

The Illinois Attorney General's office is reviewing a complaint against the , which alleges the board violated Illinois' open meetings act by barring a student editor from entering a public meeting.  

Nick Davison, outgoing editor of the student newspaper, said campus police prohibited him from entering the main board room during the March 15 meeting. Attorneys for the college say the law was never violated because the board room had reached capacity and for safety reasons Davison, among others, were allowed into an "overflow" room with a live-audio feed of the proceedings. 

Even if the room of a public meeting reaches capacity, Frank LoMonte, director of the Student Press Law Center, said reporters don't get special privileges to enter. LoMonte said, "There's not really a right for a reporter to demand that you kick out some other member of the public so you can take their seat." LoMonte said the Attorney General will have to determine if the room was truly at capacity.     

In a written rebuttal to COD's response to the Attorney General's office, Davison stated there are other witnesses to back up his allegations that the room was not at capacity. "A Daily Herald reporter also told us there was an open seat at the press table and expressed confusion as to why we weren't in the Board room." 

Even though Chris Placek, the Daily Herald reporter mentioned, attended the March 15 meeting he can't remember if there was a seat open at the press table. "I really don’t recall because all these meetings kind of flow together," said Placek. However, Placek said it's common for reporters to sit in the crowd if there are no spots at the press table. According to signs Davison saw that night, the room's maximum capacity is 244. Placek said the room was crowded because of faculty contract discussions that night but he does not believe 244 people were in the board room.      

When asked if it was common procedure to take a head count and document whether the room had in fact reached capacity, Joe Moore, associate vice president of external relations, said he could not comment due to the pending review. Yet, video footage from that night may answer the capacity question. It's common practice for the college to record each meeting and post the footage online but the college only posts video of the most recent meeting, so footage from March 15 is not available online.    

Determining if the law was violated will depend on the words of others, according to LoMonte. "It will get down to testimony of other people in the room," said LoMonte. 

Two affaidavits from College police personnel assigned to the room that night state they "do not recall denying a member of the press from access to Board room with the knowledge that there were seats available at the press table." 

According to Illinois Attorney General spokesperson Maura Possley, the review is ongoing and there is no update at this time.