ACLU urges reinstatement of Rebel Yell columnist

Jennifer Knight

Thursday, Oct. 30, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada is working to return a columnist to his job at UNLV's student newspaper after his termination for alleged plagiarism, officials said Wednesday.

Alexander Marriott was fired this month by Rebel Yell editor-in-chief Renae Judkins, who resigned from her position on Tuesday.

Judkins believed Marriott's column mimicked passages in one of Ayn Rand Institute writer Michael Berliner's articles. The two writers took an ethnocentric approach to Columbus by claiming he justly brought a better culture to the Americas.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said he "cannot be emphatic enough as to how much we disagree with Alex's ideas, but we support his right to discuss his ideas without fear of recrimination."

Despite the fact that Berliner attempted to clear Marriott's name by writing to Rebel Yell editors, Peck said the situation worsened with subsequent articles that continued stating Marriott had plagiarized his column.

"We are simply just trying to right that wrong," Peck said.

It is unclear whether Judkins' departure was directly related to Marriott's situation. Judkins could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Rebel Yell editors are to select an interim editor-in-chief at a meeting on Monday. Marriott said he will wait to see what the outcome of that is before deciding whether to come back. In the meantime, Marriott is still asking that his name be cleared.

"Basically I hope the paper will retract everything that has been said about me and by the media," Marriott said. "I hope for an apology for everything that has been done to me quite unjustly."