La Salle students publish topless paper to report on professor’s exotic dancing symposium

The paper is nearly topless. Just a few small words cover the blank space that could fit several thousand. It’s a fitting tribute to the coverage of a La Salle University professor who invited exotic dancers to a symposium.

It’s a tribute the university tried to squash.

When the story broke that a professor at the Catholic college had invited the dancers to his symposium, La Salle’s student newspaper, the Collegian, was told by administrators not to run the story, the Inquirer reports.

So City Paper broke the story instead. And after a week of haggling with university officials, 20-year-old editor Vinny Vella was told he could run the story. Below the fold, on the bottom half of the paper.

So Vella got creative. The Collegian did print the story below the fold. But nothing ran on the top half of the paper. The above-the-fold cover story Vella had planned for April 7 is still the leading item in this week’s paper.

University officials have been quiet.

The story isn’t online, but you can see a photo of Vella with the half-blank paper here.