Senior, English and Political Science major, Erica Corder was shocked when she was asked to leave a student leader meeting and even more shocked when she was fired from her position as Editor in Chief of The Collegiate Times.

 

While in her role, Corder witnessed many things going on the back end of the newspaper with the company that owns The Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech.  EMCVT is a non-profit organization that oversees all student media including The Bugle yearbook, Silhouette literary magazine, VTTV and WUVT radio. The companies’ finances have made the future of the Collegiate Times uncertain.

 

As a journalist, Corder felt that the newspaper could report on said issues in an attempt to address the problems and find solutions. One of the newspapers main struggles dealt with the financial burdens it was facing.

 

“There were shady things going on behind the scenes and I thought that it was my job as a journalist to report on it,” Corder said.

 

Corder began gathering details for the story when some members of EMCVT leadership saw it as an attack on the company.

 

During the next board meeting, Corder was asked to leave the room for a private discussion. She was fired the next day without explanation or a two-week notice.

 

“It was very traumatizing because I did not expect it,” Corder said. “ Rules were violated and bylines were completely ignored which made it an even bigger mess.”

 

Corder was so distraught after being fired that she took summer courses to graduate earlier. Though she is graduating this semester as a third year, she plans to stay in the area and focus full time on the launch of a new publication called “The Pylons”.