The St. Louis University Board of Trustees voted last night to grant school administrators the go-ahead to replace the existing University News charter. This vote comes as a defeat for newspaper staff and editors who had hoped that the vote would be tabled until the board’s next meeting in September.

According to News Editor-in-Chief Diana Benanti, the vote also had a caveat that “[newspaper staff] are to collaborate with the administration to make changes that are suitable for both sides.” Administrators and students have 9 more days to discuss the situation before the charter becomes active on May 15.

When asked what actions she and her staff were planning to pursue following this resolution, Benanti said that they would “wait and see how [the administrators] respond to what we want, and from there we will decide either individually or as a group… what we want to pursue.”

See PubDef’s video interview with Benanti from earlier this week for more background.