SAC SEIZES GAG ISSUEHumor Paper “Libellous”, Burned at Printer’s Office Only Fourteen KeptMarch 7, 1957Students’ Administrative Council officials stopped The Varsity’s press run yesterday morning and ordered all printed copies destroyed.
All but a few went up in flames in a bonfire behind the North Toronto Herald Printers.
The move was made without informing any of the paper’s editorial staff.The SAC—owners and publishers of The Varsity—explained their action by claiming the paper was “libellous and in bad taste.”
They acted on precedent. In March 1952, council acted similarly—and fired the Varsity staff. This year’s council have not announced their intentions towards the present staff.
Council officials appeared at the Herald plant yesterday morning. They demanded entry to the press room and began to read copies of the paper as it came off the press.
Council Secretary—Treasurer E. A. MacDonald ordered the presses stopped. Immediately all papers printed—about 2,500 of 7,200—were carted to the back of the shop and burned. About 14 issues—taken earlier to the printer’s files—were saved.
Varsity editor Peter Gzowski was not contacted until 11 o’clock yesterday morning. He entered the SAC office to ask if the papers had been delivered yet.
WE DENYThe following is a statement by Varsity Editor Peter Gzowski. It is supported by all members of the masthead and such reporters as have read it.
We deny: that yesterday’s gag issue was libellous in form or content, that it contained material that would have offended any but the most fanatically puritanical of minds, that any mature student would have received anything but a healthy laugh from reading it…The Varsity is no longer owned by SAC. Thank goodness.
