GREENVILLE -- People who picked up a copy of Tuesday's edition of The East Carolinian were in for quite a surprise, at least members of ECU's administration were.

The student-run newspaper at East Carolina chose to run unedited photos of John Sieglinger's now-infamous naked run across the field at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium during halftime of the Pirates' game Saturday against Southern Miss. Now, administration at the university has responded to that decision.

Virginia Hardy, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, said in a statement released to the media that the decision to run the unedited photos was "in very poor taste" and that the leadership at ECU does not support that decision.

Hardy also said that ECU administration is going to have "conversations with those who were involved ... in an effort to make it a learning experience."

Tuesday's is the first issue of The East Carolinian that has been printed since Saturday's game. The newspaper is run by students and is independent of the university's operations. There is, however, an adviser who is on staff at ECU.

Paul Isom, who is listed as the adviser on the TEC website, said: "The editor of the paper makes all editorial decisions."

TEC's Editor In Chief Caitlin Hale issued her own statement regarding the photos.

She said the photos were published on purpose after a meeting that also included the news editor and managing editor of the student newspaper. Hale said that she felt the paper's readership, primarily students, should have access to unedited photos of the incident.

"While the photos may be seen as offensive to some, the photos were not meant to be seen as sexually suggestive or insulting, but instead an accurate account of Saturday’s events," Hale said in the statement.

Streakers have long been part of sporting events, but usually coverage of their antics doesn't reach the level of Sieglinger's -- who paid his $1,500 bail with money he'd already saved up -- likely because he ran right through a ceremony honoring members of the U.S. military and made it all the way to midfield before he was tackled.

The 21-year-old Raleigh man also faces charges of trespassing and indecent exposure.

Hardy's statement:

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--- The decision by The East Carolinian to publish a photo of a streaker that showed full frontal nudity was in very poor taste. The leadership at East Carolina University does not agree with that decision and does not support it. But The East Carolinian is an independent, student-run newspaper. As such, it is a learning environment for student journalists, who make decisions about news content — and ultimately are responsible for those decisions. With that goal in mind, we will be having conversations with those who were involved in this decision in an effort to make it a learning experience. The goal will be to further the students’ understanding that with the freedom of the press comes a certain level of responsibility about what is appropriate and effective in order to get their message across. ---

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Hale's statement:

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--- The photos regarding the streaker in the Nov. 8 edition of The East Carolinian were purposely published. The news editor, managing editor and myself made the collaborative decision to publish the unedited photos. This decision was made because we felt that our audience, which is primarily the ECU student body, should have access to unedited and factual photos of the streaking incident at last Saturday’s ECU football game. While the photos may be seen as offensive to some, the photos were not meant to be seen as sexually suggestive or insulting, but instead an accurate account of Saturday’s events. ---

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