The Student Press Law Center today condemned a federal court ruling upholding — for now, at least — the University of Alabama’s decision to shut down two student magazines, calling the decision a significant threat to student press freedom nationwide.
Mike Hiestand, the Student Press Law Center's senior legal counsel, said the suspensions appear to be unlawful viewpoint discrimination. He made the following statement:
The University of Alabama’s 122-year-old student yearbook will cease publication, prompted by years of dwindling revenue and circulation. Last year, only 24 copies of the Corolla were sold to a student body of more than 34,000.
A year after the student newspaper at the University of Alabama released a scathing report detailing the persistence of racial segregation in sorority recruiting, university officials released new guidelines restricting media access to those involved in rush.
On Monday, students at the University of Alabama who tried to film a Harlem Shake video on the school's quad learned they couldn't gather without a permit from the university, according to reports in The Crimson White, Alabama's student newspaper. The school requires all groups to apply for a grounds use permit for events, speeches, rallies or protests on campus, and it can take up to 10 days for the school to approve permits.The large crowd that gathered was told by campus police to disperse, and the student who organized the event was given a ticket, The Crimson White reports.
On the day The Crimson White published a front-page story about Price’s firing,about 1,500 copies were stolen. Isom said he believes the theft was in protest of that story.