Maura Stephens, editor of the Ithaca College Quarterly, has withdrawn her request for $2,000 in funding from the college to pay for her trip to Iraq.

Four college offices had committed last week to give $500 each for her humanitarian and activist mission with the women’s peace delegation Code Pink: Women’s Pre-Emptive Strike for Peace.

"I withdrew my request for support," Stephens said Tuesday afternoon. "I don’t want the college to be under any kind of cloud over this. I will be funding it myself."

The Ithacan Online published a story earlier Tuesday that raised questions about the nature, funding and legality of Stephens’ trip. (See the story here.)

Stephens responded to concerns about whether her trip would illegally violate State Department restrictions by saying she will not use her American passport to gain entry to Iraq. She had previously told The Ithacan she would be using her passport.

"I wouldn’t be going if I thought it were illegal," Stephens said. "What I understand is that there’s some illegality if you have your American passport stamped in Iraq, but we’re not going to have ours stamped."

Further coverage will appear in Thursday’s print and online editions of The Ithacan.