Universities Weblog

The e-mail message turned in another student for using profanity on her personal Web page, which linked to Trinity's Web site. Nothing scandalous, but Dr. McGuire was more troubled, she said, that "trinity gurl" had snitched in secrecy.

So Dr. McGuire reached for a particularly apt solution in the age of the blogosphere: She censured the eager informant on her own blog, comparing the e-mailer to Big Brother and asking, "Who is 'trinity gurl' and why is she sending me this kind of information about something a student is posting online?"

While some colleges and their presidents have seen their reputations shredded on student blogs, and others have tried to limit what students and faculty members may say online, about a dozen or so presidents, like Dr. McGuire, are vaulting the digital and generational divide and starting their own blogs.

Veterans of campus public relations disasters warn that presidents blog at their peril; "an insane thing to do" is how Raymond Cotton, a lawyer who advises universities and their presidents in contract negotiations, describes it. But these presidents say blogs make their campuses seem cool and open a direct line, more or less, to students, alumni and the public.