We supported the Indiana Daily Student’s staff and advising team before, during and after the university exerted control over the students’ reporting.
When Indiana University administrators began interfering with the Indiana Daily Student’s editorial independence, Student Media Director Jim Rodenbush and the IDS team knew who to call.
That trust wasn’t built overnight. The Student Press Law Center’s legal team has long been a steady resource for Rodenbush and his students during times of uncertainty — showing up so often that the link to our Legal Hotline auto-populates on his phone.
So, as Indiana University began showing signs of overreach, our legal team was there to support. We helped Rodenbush and student co-editors Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller navigate the growing tension, and when Indiana administrators halted the printers in October 2025 and fired Rodenbush for protesting the decision, the Student Press Law Center was prepared to move quickly.
Indiana University administrators claimed it came down to a budget issue. In reality, it was censorship, plain and simple.
The timeline reveals what Indiana’s carefully worded statements attempted to obscure. In early October, the Media School Dean told Rodenbush that the Homecoming edition of the IDS should include only homecoming content and “no other news at all.” This development occurred after years of administrators referencing “business decisions” to influence editorial content. When Rodenbush pushed back, the university retaliated.
We heard from student journalists across the country who expressed a frequent sentiment: ‘If it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.’ The Indiana Daily Student is 159 years old, with a large staff and a long history here in Bloomington. If the IDS experienced this amount of pressure from people in power, where does that leave smaller publications at the college and high school level that might not have the same infrastructure and support?
—Mia Hilkowitz
Co-editor-in-chief, 2025–26, Indiana Daily Student
The Student Press Law Center responded on multiple fronts:
- Guided student editors in real-time, helping them understand their options and reviewing public statements for potential legal exposure.
- Connected Rodenbush with a pro bono attorney who helped him file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
- Provided student editors with a national platform to share their lessons learned with peers through a Student Press Freedom Day webinar.
- Published an ongoing IU Censorship Tracker that serves as a hub for the latest developments, signaling to IU administrators that their actions are being closely watched.
- Publicly advocated for student representation on the university’s student media task force, which was formed to develop recommendations for ensuring editorial independence and financial sustainability of student media at IU. Students were ultimately included and helped inform the report, which was released in May 2026.
- Educated the public on the importance of student press freedom through several media interviews, which put increased pressure on Indiana University to rectify its decisions. Executive Director Gary Green’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper brought the story and its stakes to hundreds of thousands of viewers, along with coverage from the Associated Press, Inside Higher Ed, IndyStar and others.
The swell of scrutiny and public pressure on Indiana administrators worked, and the print issue was reinstated.
But the IDS story resonated far beyond Bloomington. For student journalists and advisers, it was a reminder of what is at stake and how quickly overreach can escalate. The issue spurred many student journalists to become more alert to potential censorship threats at their own institutions and reach out to the Student Press Law Center to better understand their rights. For administrators, it was a signal that the community is organized, the public is watching and the law is on students’ side.
At a moment when press freedom is under pressure, the IDS story demonstrated what is possible when students, advisers and advocates refuse to accept censorship and overreach.
Navigating the events of the fall as student editors was very daunting at first, but SPLC helped us sort through the noise and find the best way forward. It gave Andrew, the staff and I a lot more confidence to speak out and fight loudly for our organization. SPLC helped us figure out how best to convey what was happening to the rest of the world.
—Mia Hilkowitz
Co-editor-in-chief, 2025–26, Indiana Daily Student