UW opposes administrative review of college press

A student newspaper at Governors State University (GSU) near Chicago is engaged in a legal conflict with the school's administration over the First Amendment. The lawsuit focuses on an administrative review process that the UW administration doesn't advocate.

GSU newspaper The Innovator, which sometimes criticized the school's administration, staff and student government, has not been published since late 2000. This is because Patricia Carter, dean of student affairs at GSU, told the paper's publishing company that future issues had to be reviewed by someone in the administration before being printed. Margaret Hosty, Jeni Porche and Steven Barba, students who worked for the paper at the time, filed a lawsuit in January 2001.

Asked if the UW's administration would ever take any actions similar to those taken at GSU, Norm Arkans, associate vice president for university relations, did not hesitate to respond that it would not.

In a March 2001 report, the Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) said that in addition to the paper being shut down, students at the newspaper claim that funding has been suspended, office locks have been changed and sensitive mail and e-mail has disappeared.

"[We] believe administrators have acted inappropriately, and probably illegally, with blatant disregard for students' First Amendment rights," the report said.

The ICPA criticized the paper for employing student senators as editors, running a piece by the paper's faculty adviser and editorializing in front-page news, but the association did emphasize the importance of a free press.

In addition to the ICPA, 24 other media and education organizations have sided with the students, including the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press Managing Editors, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the Society of Professional Journalists.

Last fall, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled in favor of the students, citing unconstitutional prior restraint on the part of GSU. The school is appealing to the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals, based on the Supreme Court's 1988 Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier decision. The decision allows high school administrations to restrict student newspapers under "legitimate pedagogical" circumstances. The appeal is expected in court this fall.