The lawsuit notes that the school’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, received a charter in 1969 to protect its “independence and freedom.” On its website, the paper says that “[f]inal content decisions and responsibility rest with duly appointed student editors and managed.”
The former director of student media at Indiana University has filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that he was fired after refusing an order to start censoring student work.
According to NBC News, the lawsuit was filed on Thursday on behalf of Jim Rodenbush, the former director of student media at Indiana University and an adviser to the school’s student newspaper.
Attorneys for Rodenbush note that their client was fired from his positions on October 14.
In court documents, Rodenbush claims that his termination was unlawful and violative of his 14th Amendment rights.
“Freedom of the press and academic freedom are sacrosanct in the American imagination,” Rodenbush wrote in the lawsuit.
Rodenbush alleges that the university fired him “in a direct assault on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment” because “he refused the directive to censor student work.” He is now seeking damages as well as “declaratory and injunctive relief.”
Rodenbush told CBS News that he has yet to request any specific amount of money, but his attorney, Jonathon Little, said that his client’s damages will likely grow as the case makes its way through court.
“The longer he isn’t in his job, the greater his damages are,” Little told CBS News over the phone.
The lawsuit notes that the school’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student, received a charter in 1969 to protect its “independence and freedom.” On its website, the paper says that “[f]inal content decisions and responsibility rest with duly appointed student editors and managed.”
But Rodenbush says that “in the weeks and months leading up to the termination of his employment, the IU Administration had directed Rodenbush to stop the students from printing any news.”
Administrators eventually asked Rodenbush to switch strategies, prioritizing special “print” editions that generate more revenue than standard issues. No significant changes were made, and the Indiana Daily Student continued to print special editions the same way as it had always done. “We did that for seven issues,” Rodenbush said. “The entire semester passed, and nobody said anything to us.”
After several meetings, which took place between late September and early October, Rodenbush was sent a termination letter.
“Your lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the university’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable,” the letter said, adding that “leadership lost trust in your ability to lead and communicate appropriately on behalf of the university.”
Indiana University Chancellor David Reginalad has since attempted to clarify his decision-making, saying that his “decision had nothing to do with editorial content of the IDS.” The firing, instead, “coincided with a convergence of long-term operational concerns related to the Student Media Action Plan” and that there had been a reported annual deficit of nearly $300,000.
Reginald did concede that the university did handle the firing as well as it could have.
“I recognize and accept that the campus has not handled recent decisions as well as we should have,” Reginald said. “Communication was uneven and timing imperfect.”
Sources
Fired newspaper adviser sues Indiana University after censorship battle
IU student newspaper adviser firing a ‘direct assault’ on First Amendment, new lawsuit says
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