For Sunshine Week, Erasmus Baxter, Asia Fields and Julia Furukawa share their story of reporting on university misconduct cases at Western Washington University.
Winning a public records lawsuit against our alma mater
News
Sunshine Week shines light on transparency
Last updated March 23, 2025 This week, we all celebrate and shine a light on the importance of public records and open government. Transparency is critical to understanding how our public institutions function, and student journalists are often the only ones in their community regularly holding school and college administrators accountable. We hope you'll join… Continue reading Sunshine Week shines light on transparency
Covering Federal Immigration Enforcement Policy & Actions
https://splc.org/immigration/
DA declines charges against arrested Stanford reporter
Nine months after student journalist Dilan Gohill was arrested while covering a protest at Stanford University, prosecutors confirmed today that they will not pursue criminal charges against him.
‘Not backing down’: Student Press Freedom Day 2025
A sense of urgency and conviction underscored Student Press Freedom Day this year. We share highlights of how students marked the occasion.
Join us for Student Press Freedom Day 2025
On Feb. 27, the eighth annual Student Press Freedom Day will gather student journalists and their supporters across the United States to spend the day raising awareness about their challenges, celebrating their contributions to their schools and communities and taking actions to protect and restore their First Amendment freedoms.
Arrested reporter won’t face university discipline, Stanford tells SPLC, FAC
More than seven months after student journalist Dilan Gohill was arrested while covering a campus protest, Stanford University President Jonathan Levin confirmed to the Student Press Law Center and the First Amendment Coalition on Monday that Gohill will not face campus disciplinary action. Levin, however, declined to rescind the university’s previous endorsement of criminal prosecution of Gohill in response to SPLC and FAC’s calls for him to do so.
SPLC, FAC urge Stanford to call for DA to decline charges against student journalist
The Student Press Law Center and the First Amendment Coalition today wrote to Stanford University President Jonathan D. Levin to request he take specific steps to address the university’s mishandling of the June 5 arrest of a student journalist covering a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus.
Arrested Stanford reporter still in limbo six months later
In the Columbia Journalism Review, Stanford Daily reporter Dilan Gohill spoke publicly for the first time about his arrest in June while covering an occupation of the Stanford president’s office. The prosecutor still hasn’t officially pursued or declined the felony charges against Gohill, and Stanford disciplinary proceedings are also pending.
Guest Post: Don’t be afraid: Standing up for student press freedom is worth it
Ben Shapiro is a first-year at Northwestern University. In high school, he served as the editor-in-chief of The Spoke, Conestoga High School’s student newspaper, and worked closely with the Student Press Law Center throughout his tenure. Shapiro is active with Pennsylvania’s New Voices movement. While interning at SPLC this summer, he reflected on the censorship he faced as a student journalist and why it was worth fighting.