Officials at East Carolina University released a statement after 4 p.m. Tuesday in response to requests from free speech organizations to reinstate Paul Isom, who was fired Jan. 4 as student media adviser.

The dismissal came two months after the student-run East Carolinian newspaper printed unaltered photos of a streaker at a Nov. 5 football game. The statement from Virginia Hardy, vice chancellor for student affairs, follows:

East Carolina University is concerned that a decision to change leadership in its director of student media role has been connected to a First Amendment issue without full knowledge of the facts at hand. 

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