The effort will continue at a demonstration Monday at the school, students said.
Students from various diversity groups and faculty called for an emergency meeting Friday in response to the Sept. 12 issue's "Polydongs" comic strip, which features talking shapes who say they've kidnapped a 14-year-old Hispanic girl, tied her up in a closet and urinated on her.
While The Recorder stood by a disclaimer printed under the cartoon stating it "does not support the kidnapping of (and subsequent urinating on) children of any age or ethnicity," Latino and minority students weren't buying it.
"It's ridiculous, it's offensive, annoying, it's embarrassing, it's everything," student Erika Garcia said. "It needs to be taken care of now."
It's not the first time Rowan's been in the hot seat. Last February, The Recorder published an editorial titled "Rape only hurts if you fight it."
Rowan claims it was a collective decision by the editorial room to publish the "Polydongs Cartoon, based on true idiots." When questioned if February's incident occurred under similar circumstances, Rowan said the "circumstances were different." There is a new policy set in place in which everyone on staff must look at every submitted article, with particular attention to those that could draw controversy, he said.
Ultimately, the student newspaper's editorial staff gave the comic strip a go.
"This is no worse than any 'South Park' episode that's consumed by college students on a daily basis," said Rowan, 21, referring to the popular animated series running on the Comedy Central cable channel. "We figured it would fit the diet."
Rowan noted that he got two comments from Hispanic girls who thought the comic strip was funny.
"We didn't mean to single out Latin people - it could have been changed to any other type of ethnicity," said Rowan, who is expected to graduate in December. "The point is it's interchangeable."
"It's kind of weird that no one takes 'South Park' seriously, but a comic that has a similar sense of humor all of a sudden is hate speech?" Rowan said.
But the comic strip wasn't a laughing matter to students in the Latin American Student Association, and more than 50 other students and faculty members who attended a student press conference Friday in front of Davidson Hall, which houses the university's administrative offices.
"This is a college environment; this isn't high school," said student Mike Ferguson. "You have to grow up and become more mature, because this isn't little kid stuff anymore."
Serafin Mendez, a communications professor, and other members of minority groups on campus, including those advocating the rights of women, African-Americans and the gay and lesbian community, aren't just blaming the paper. They also want university President Jack Miller to take action and promote diversity on campus. A petition to that effect circulated on campus Friday.
"The administration of this university hasn't placed a strong emphasis on affirmative action policies," Mendez said. "We are putting the administration on notice that enough is enough."
Miller sat Friday with students from Hispanic and African-American groups who said they were upset members of the administration were reacting too slowly and mildly to the comic strip.
Miller said he did not know about the comic strip until he was approached by faculty Friday morning. Students bombarded him with questions. They wanted answers.
"I am offended by the decisions of the editorial staff and Mark Rowan," Miller said in a statement.
Rowan is a member of a roughly 20-member school task force on journalistic integrity, a group formed last year to address ire and issues raised last year by the opinion piece published on Rowan's watch, which called rape "magical." The task force met late last month, and Miller indicated it would likely meet again soon - although before the comic strip was published, its mission had run its course.
"Their decision to publish a deeply offensive cartoon demonstrates their lack of understanding of how words can hurt and how their editorial decision to publish offensive materials can undermine the civility that should bring us together as a campus community," Miller said.
"I share the concerns of my Latin-American colleagues and students and others for the hurt inflicted by [Rowan's] decision to run this offensive cartoon," said Miller, while noting the university is constrained in how it can respond to such action. "I believe, however, that there are some things we can proceed with as an institution."
The university plans to hire a full-time journalism professor to serve as adviser for The Recorder and to possibly make journalism - offered as a minor - into a major.
Miller also recommended that more students who are members of minority groups should write for the paper.
"Change must come from within, and it is my hope that students will teach students about cultural understanding," Miller said.
Rowan agreed.
"We don't discriminate [by] color or sex," said Rowan, who is also an intern at the alternative weekly newspaper the Hartford Advocate. "We would love for anyone at all to write for the newspaper."