BLOOMINGTON— PEN America on Thursday strongly condemned Indiana University’s decisions to order student newspaper editors to “print no news in the paper” and to fire its student media adviser for refusing to carry out a “blatant violation” of free expression.
Administrators’ insistence that print editions of the Indiana Daily Student contain no news is an editorial directive aimed at controlling what information reaches students and the public. In an escalation, the university fired the director of student media, Jim Rodenbush, after he pushed back against the administration’s order.
“This move is a direct attack on the independence of student journalism and a blatant violation of the principles of free expression that public universities are bound to uphold,” said Kristen Shahverdian, program director of PEN America’s Campus Free Speech Program. “By asserting control over what content can appear in print, administrators have crossed a bright red line between financial management and editorial interference. Punishing the student newspaper’s long-term adviser for defending students’ right to publish freely is a draconian measure that sends a chilling message to student journalists nationwide. Indiana University must immediately end this act of censorship, restore the independence of the student newspaper, and reverse the termination of adviser Jim Rodenbush.”
The university’s decisions regarding the Indiana Daily Student are part of a troubling pattern in which universities and state lawmakers are wielding administrative power and politicized laws to silence voices. From the investigation and suspension of professors under the state’s so-called “intellectual diversity” mandate to legislation that would police which ideas can be discussed on campus, Indiana’s institutions of higher learning are narrowing the space for inquiry and dissent. Together, these actions reveal a systematic erosion of free expression on the state’s campuses.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
