When immigration enforcement agents came on to her Minneapolis high school's grounds on 7 January, Lila Dominguez was in the school's basement working on an article about an ICE agent shooting Renee Good earlier that day. The high school junior was glued to her phone watching videos from outside the school. I was kind of pacing around. My hands were really shaky, she said.
It's called CollegeWatch. For this job, I am reading constantly about the topic - stories we're publishing, yes, but also stories from publications big and small. What quickly struck me is the power of the work coming out of campus publications, and how little we would know about the full scale of this assault if it were not for these student journalists.
First filed in August, the suit alleges the administration has used immigration policies to suppress protected speech by student activists and journalists. It names Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as defendants. The plaintiffs the newspaper and two individuals using aliases are challenging two provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that they say let the government punish noncitizens for exercising protected speech.
I'm a news editor at my school newspaper, The Voice, in Fremont. Every month, when we make our rounds to distribute newspapers to our classmates, more of my peers decline to take one. I've had my fair share of awkward stares and mumbled "no"s as students look back at their phone screens in response, as I ask them if they'd like a newspaper.
The decision by Indiana University administrators to allow the Indiana Daily Student newspaper to resume occasional publication is a victory for the advocates of free expression on campus. The Student Press Law Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the American Association of University Professors, along with student newspapers across the country, spoke out loudly in defense of Indiana student journalists.
The Indiana Daily Student, the venerated student newspaper of Indiana University, has taken home oodles of accolades, published ground-breaking work and punched above its weight at every turn. Its alums have won Pulitzers and crowded national newsrooms. Alumni include famed World War II reporter Ernie Pyle, three-time Pulitzer-winning news photographer Michel du Cille, and even the namesake of this institute: Nelson Poynter was an Indiana boy who cut his journalism teeth on campus as the editor-in-chief of the IDS.
NPR's College Podcast Challenge is back for its fifth year, with a $5,000 cash prize. If you have a passion project or a story you want to get off your chest, here's your chance to make it happen. And we'll air the winner, and many of our finalists and honorable mentions, too, on NPR programs like Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Whether you're a seasoned student journalist, or a math or science major recording your first podcast, we want to hear from you.
During my interview for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, I was asked whether the administration should intervene when Jewish students are unsafe on campus, followed by a provocative comparison to potential violence against Black students.
The Exponent has served Purdue University for decades, but the end of the partnership raises questions about free speech and student journalism's access to institutional support.
