Lawsuit against UNC for the release of campus sexual assault records officially ends in favor of student journalists

More than four years after The Daily Tar Heel filed a lawsuit against UNC for the release of campus sexual assault records, the legal battle is officially over. Wikimedia Commons / Mx. Granger CC0 1.0

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled University of North Carolina must hand over student, faculty, and staff rape, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct records requested by the university's student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.

Open-government advocates defend public’s right of access to campus disciplinary cases involving violent crimes

Editor's Note: The Student Press Law Center signed onto a friend-of-the-court brief from the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida. This story was originally published by the Brechner Center. Read or download the full brief. Public universities should release records showing how they punish students found liable for committing serious… Continue reading Open-government advocates defend public’s right of access to campus disciplinary cases involving violent crimes

As Hurricane Florence crashes into the Carolinas, student journalists report through the storm

Hurricane Florence approaching North and South Carolina. Photo by NOAA

NORTH CAROLINA — Alexis Wray, editor in chief of The A&T Register at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, is among the few who was looking forward to Hurricane Florence’s east coast arrival on Thursday. “I am extremely excited,” Wray said. She’s not excited about the Category 2 hurricane, but does want to be a source of… Continue reading As Hurricane Florence crashes into the Carolinas, student journalists report through the storm

NEWS RELEASE: Student privacy cannot obstruct public access to records of campus sexual-assault cases, SPLC tells N.C. court

UNC-Chapel Hill is misapplying the FERPA student privacy law to withhold public records that could help journalists shed light on the way the university does, or does not, punish students found liable for sexual assault, an SPLC legal brief argues.

SUNSHINE WEEK: Courts weigh transparency, student privacy

In the past year, courts across the country have tried tointerpret the meaning of the federal student privacy law, known as FERPA.Several recent rulings suggest the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Actdoes not protect the vast array of information about students that someuniversities have claimed.