For Sunshine Week, we share the story of three former student journalists who persistently fought for public records to shine a light on an important issue on campus. Erasmus Baxter, Asia Fields and Julia Furukawa are alumni of Western Washington University, where they reported on university misconduct cases. They consulted with the Student Press Law Center while in college and sued their alma mater for public records.
6/2/2025 Editor’s Note: Erasmus, Asia and Julia officially created in May 2025 the “Student Investigative Journalism Fund” at Western Washington University using the funds awarded through winning this lawsuit. Read more about the student journalism it will support here.
When we were student journalists, we sought to hold our university accountable by covering how it responded to sexual misconduct. The cases unfolded largely behind closed doors and we were often the only journalists reporting on them.
Our sustained reporting for the student newspaper, The Western Front, led to protests on campus and an email campaign from outraged students and alumni. We used the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline for guidance throughout our reporting.
Students wanted transparency and accountability. Some said they felt unsafe with the lack of information from the university. We sought to fill that gap as much as we could.
However, administrators refused to release the names of students found responsible for assault. This would have allowed us to see how often the university allowed students back on campus after a school or criminal sexual misconduct case. We also wanted to see if there were disparities in how the university treated different students reported for misconduct.
Administrators cited FERPA, the federal student privacy law, in their denials, but FERPA explicitly allows universities to release the names of students found responsible for violent or sexual misconduct. At the time, student journalists at The Daily Tar Heel in North Carolina had won in court by pointing out that fact.
With the help of the Student Press Law Center, we tried to get the university to follow the law.
When they refused, we looked for a public records attorney.
Having an expert on our side made all the difference, especially in the early days of our effort. SPLC attorney Mike Hiestand gave us guidance, but he also offered validation that we were right — no matter what university officials said.
Last year, long after our days as student journalists, we finally settled our case. As a result of our suit, the university released the names it had withheld and paid a settlement, which we are using to establish an endowment at the university to support investigative student journalism.
The settlement came after a judge ruled in our favor and assigned the university penalties, recognizing both the importance of the information to the campus community and of the student journalism being done on the subject.
“It goes to the heart of free press and the importance of journalism on very important topics,” he said when announcing the penalties.
Student journalists are doing important accountability reporting, often with few resources. The SPLC’s support for student journalism is invaluable, and we know we couldn’t have reached this point without them.
We encourage you to help support SPLC and student journalists by donating today.