Heather Mangan

The South Dakota Board Regents announced Sept. 13 that all members of the media are welcomed to attend SDSU’s presidential candidate meetings Sept. 14 on Sept. 15.

“I’m happy that the Board of Regents finally came around to see what is under the law,” said Jeremy Fugleberg, The Collegian editor-in-chief. “It’s just very unfortunate that it took legal action to change their mind.”

The announcement comes hours after Brookings Judge Rodney Steele ruled in favor of The Collegian’s order to prohibit the BOR from keeping the newspaper out of the interviews.

“It doesn’t make sense to exclude people from all of the constituent groups,” said Executive Director Robert “Tad” Perry.

The BOR has called an emergency meeting on the evening of Sept. 13 in Brookings.

Perry said the judge’s decision in the end didn’t surprise him.

“Judges tend to lean over backwards to accommodate,” he said.

Both groups and their lawyers will meet next Tuesday for a hearing to discuss legalities of the BOR’s policy regarding media in presidential searches.

“You have to decide how much you want to put into this argument, or change your process,” Perry said.

The Collegian obtained the order so it could report on the finalists’ interviews.

The four presidential finalists will meet with various constituent groups Thursday and Friday on campus as the last stage of the interviewing process to find SDSU’s next president.