Author: Sara Gregory

Christian university president defends student newspaper’s right to publish Obama endorsement

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We write a lot about principals and college administrators who don't seem to appreciate the value of a free and vigorous student press, so it's nice to write about one who does — Abilene Christian University President Phil Schubert.Last week, the editorial board of the school's student newspaper, The Optimist, endorsed President Barack Obama for a second term. The endorsement sparked debate on the newspaper's website, where some wondered whether the endorsement was at odds with the school's Christian mission.Sunday in the Abilene Reporter-News, Schubert publicly defended the paper's right to publish its endorsement:

Abilene Christian University does not endorse political candidates or parties, so some people reacted with surprise when our student newspaper, the Optimist, recently endorsed a presidential candidate.That provides a great opportunity for me to explain what ACU does endorse: making sure our students receive an education that prepares them to make real choices and engage in independent thought about important issues.... It would be easy to shy away from diverse opinions about difficult subjects, but in so doing, we would remove from our students the opportunity to practice — in a safe environment — for the challenges and experiences that will shape them into these kind of people.
Well said.

Memphis administrators respond to “Break FERPA” campaign

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When we launched our Break FERPA campaign, we wanted to see how universities would respond when students asked for their own records in the same over-broad way schools use when withholding public records.Would schools maintain their previously held position, and turn over all the emails, notes, memos, video, audio, parking tickets or phone records where a student is personally identifiable, even if not mentioned by name?

Mapping college newspaper thefts

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Newspaper theft is never funny — but sometimes you have to laugh at the ridiculous lengths some people will go to censor the news.

  • There's the Binghamton student who justified trashing 50 copies of The Binghamton Review by saying he had obtained signed permission from students who "donated" their copies to him to trash.
  • There's The Gatepost at Framingham State College, where 1,000 copies were trashed after the paper ran a photo front-page of students at a lacrosse game with their friend's name (a lacrosse player) written on their midriffs.

Journalism groups write Atlanta mayor to protest continued prosecution of arrested college journalists

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The National Press Photographers Association and six other journalism organizations have written to Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to protest the arrest and prosecution of two college journalists arrested last year while covering Occupy Atlanta demonstrations.Judy Kim, a photojournalist with Georgia State University's The Signal, and Alisen Redmond, a photojournalist with Kennesaw State University's The Sentinel, were arrested last November and charged with "obstruction of traffic." The pair were standing on a street closed to traffic when arrested and identified themselves as reporters."The arrest and 14 hour detention of college journalists is a tangible example of what is meant by a 'chilling effect' as it relates to First Amendment liberties," wrote Mickey Osterreicher, NPPA's general counsel.

After college spikes story on professor’s arrest, student editor publishes it himself

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When the editor of Bryan College’s newspaper learned there was more to a professor’s resignation than had first appeared, he looked into the incident and started reporting.Using public records, Alex Green discovered that assistant professor David Morgan’s resignation was preceded by a June arrest in which he was charged with attempted aggravated child molestation, attempted child molestation and sexual exploitation of a child.Green planned a story on the arrests, but before it could run in last Friday’s issue of The Bryan College Triangle, college administrators at the private Dayton, Tenn., college told him he couldn’t run the story.