UK faculty of the School of Journalism and Media hand delivered an open letter to President Eli Capilouto at the Faculty Senate reception calling for him to make a public apology for his remarks regarding the actions of the Kernel in reporting on sexual assault.

They requested that he apologize to editors at the Kernel, and members of the journalism school who he had insulted by saying that the paper had published “salacious details to gain readership,” and other false statements about the paper.

The faculty defended the ethical behavior of the Kernel and its editor, whose reputation they said Capilouto impugned with his comments.

Because Capilouto never reached out to the Kernel to verify any of his statements before he addressed the Board of Trustees, the Faculty Senate and the public with his accusation, the letter also chides him for a reckless disregard for the truth.

“We also find offensive your attempt to ascribe motive to the student without ever discussing this story with her,” faculty wrote. “We teach our students to write what they know and what they see, and not to go beyond that in news stories – and to not report what they think people are thinking and ascribing motives for what they do.”

UK spokesman Jay Blanton said that the university continues to affirm that this matter is about protecting privacy rights of victims.

“We respect and appreciate the voice of our faculty and the concerns articulated by those in the Journalism program,” he wrote in an email to the Kernel. “But this disagreement rests where it should – in a court of law.”

Though the faculty also asked that the president drop the lawsuit against the Kernel, UK will move forward with its appeal.

UK and the Kernel will appear in Fayette Circuit Court Friday. Both are waiting to hear if Judge Thomas Clark will allow the office of Attorney General Andy Beshear to intervene in the case.

Beshear announced that it would seek to intervene in the case about a week after the university officially filed suit. UK has denied his office, multiple times, from being able to review documents it has requested for in camera review, part of the office’s legal role in hearing open records appeals.

“We are all – the Kernel, the university, the Office of the Attorney General and our faculty – grappling with how best to protect all of our students who are part of this community,” Blanton wrote. “But the most important question here is how to protect victim survivors.”