Yesterday, we noted that the student-operated Georgetown Voice was being forced out of their longtime on-campus newsroom. Of course, after we read a little bit more about the circumstances, we figured it deserved a little more attention.

We’ll go ahead and let Patch explain the basic reason the newsroom was shuttered:

Three Georgetown University students were arrested early Sunday during Hurricane Irene after they ignored Public Safety officers’ requests to leave the Leavey Center area for safety reasons and their attempts to evade officers in the building resulted in an estimated $1,500 in damage to university property.

The University issued a warning early Sunday during the hurricane that the New Science Center construction site posed a danger to anyone nearby because of loosened shingles. According to reports in both The Hoya and The Voice, three male students were investigating the damage to the science center when they were told to keep away from an esplanade area of the Leavey Center just after 1 a.m. Sunday.

According to public safety officials, the students fled into the Leavey Center and locked themselves in a student newspaper office on the fourth floor of the building. Two of the three students were staff members for The Georgetown Voice.

Oh, those pesky student journalists, what with their unbounded gumption and all! Dismantle the presses!

In response to the university’s decision to kick the outlet out of their workspace — despite the fact that two of the three students involved in the incident, John Flanagan and Sam Buckley, were let go from their positions at the Voice after their arrests — a group of 57 former staffers, including local notables like Post city hall reporter Mike DeBonis and former DCist weekend editor Dave Stroup, sent a letter to the university leadership requesting that the legacy of journalistic camaraderie developed in that newsroom not be dismantled.

“During my years at Georgetown, the Voice newsroom was a second home,” Stroup told us. “Having space for the staff to come together to work is a vital part of the institution. I strongly hope the University reconsiders their decision.”

“Simply put, it threatens the soul of the paper,” said DeBonis, in a separate letter sent to the administration which he shared with DCist. “An eviction, I believe, would be counterproductive, would imperil the success of the paper, and would send the wrong message to the current and former students who have worked hard and have followed the rules.”

While the Voice will “continue to have exclusive access to a different office space,” according to the university, we can’t help but agree — Georgetown’s student-run newspapers and magazines are an important part of that community’s daily lives, and it’d be a real shame to see any of them, including the Voice, suffer so much for the actions of a tiny group who have already been summarily punished by their peers.

The letter, signed collectively by the 57 former Voice writers, can be read here.