A fierce First Amendment advocate, veteran journalist and accomplished leader has been named the Student Press Law Center’s next executive director. Gary Green, a journalist who moved to higher education to train the next generation of journalists, will join SPLC on April 10 to advance SPLC’s mission to promote, support and defend the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists and their advisers.
Since July 2020, Green has been executive director of the Center for Sustainable Journalism at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, responsible for four publications. For six years prior, he was digital director of the Innovation News Center at the University of Florida and helped lead a three-platform, student-driven newsroom. He founded Fresh Take Georgia and previously co-founded Fresh Take Florida, state government news services operated through public universities. Prior to his shift to higher education, Green worked as a journalist for 18 years, including 12 as a photojournalist and editor at the Orlando Sentinel. He serves on the advisory board for the Florida Center for Government Accountability and is a past trustee of the First Amendment Foundation.
Green holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and a Master of Arts in Mass Communication from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.
“It’s a tremendous honor to lead this historic organization to provide students and their advisers the support they need to do this critical work,” Green said, “particularly at a time when press freedoms are increasingly under threat, trust in media continues to erode and culture wars are influencing policy impacting our educational institutions.”
SPLC Board Chair Logan Aimone praised Green’s blend of experience in the newsroom, classroom and boardroom.
“We are pleased to welcome Gary Green, a journalist and educator with a deep understanding of the challenges student journalists face,” Aimone said. “As an experienced manager who is passionate about the legal resources and advocacy necessary to support the essential work of student reporters and editors, Gary is uniquely skilled to help SPLC advance its mission and vision.”
Green will lead SPLC’s talented team of specialists in media law, advocacy and journalism education. Green and the staff will continue to shift the legal landscape for student journalists, create and strengthen partnerships, and tell the story of SPLC’s impact to the extended community of educators, journalists, lawyers, policy makers and the public.
Most importantly, SPLC centers and empowers student journalists from every background, student media, and type of school and college.
“I want every student who engages in this work to know their rights and receive the necessary support to fight censorship and obfuscation regardless of their backgrounds and resources,” Green said. “Press freedoms should not be limited to those of privilege.”
SPLC’s most recent executive director, Hadar Harris, departed the organization on Feb. 28 after more than five years of organizational transformation and unprecedented challenges in education and journalism. The SPLC Board of Directors began searching for a new executive director soon after Harris publicly announced her departure in November 2022. Until Green joins SPLC on April 10, Assistant Director Josh Moore will serve as acting executive director.
About the Student Press Law Center
The Student Press Law Center is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C., which works at the intersection of education, journalism and law to promote, support and defend the First Amendment rights of student journalists at the high school and college level. Founded in 1974, the Student Press Law Center has a free legal hotline that serves thousands of student journalists and advisers across the United States. Thanks to a solid endowment, growing foundation support and generous individual donors, we also engage in training, advocacy and outreach to empower student journalists, promote the value of journalism education and spotlight the need to ensure legal protections for student press freedom through the New Voices movement. For more information on SPLC’s mission, history and vision, visit SPLC.org.
For more, contact Josh Moore, Acting Executive Director: jmoore@splc.org