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04-15-25-campus-chenyao-liu

Executive Editor Diamy Wang and DP Editor-In-Chief Emily Scolnick condemn the recent attacks on student press at Columbia University.

Credit: Chenyao Liu

On May 7, Columbia University and the New York Police Department infringed upon the fundamental right to freedom of the press by restricting student journalists from covering a protest at Columbia’s Butler Library. Some of the reporters affected were from the Columbia Daily Spectator, Columbia’s independent student-run publication — a paper like The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Following the protest, Spectator released a statement alleging repeated instances of NYPD and Columbia Public Safety officers using force against student reporters and obstructing their ability to fully cover the protest.

Spectator detailed the following violations:

First, a Spectator photographer was unintentionally caught in a crowd rush and was restrained and effectively choked by a Public Safety officer despite holding up a press pass.

Second, a senior NYPD officer threatened to revoke a Spectator videographer’s city-issued press card after they asked an NYPD officer if three Spectator reporters on the other side of the barricade could enter, even though NYPD does not have the power to seize or revoke a press card. 

Third, NYPD and Columbia Public Safety officers explicitly blocked student press from entering areas where the protest was taking place.

Less than a day after the protest, Spectator reported that Barnard College and Columbia had placed student journalists under interim suspension, citing their alleged involvement in the occupation of the library. These reporters had published bylines before the suspensions and had identified themselves as members of the press to Columbia Public Safety officers during the protest.

Although these suspensions were eventually lifted, Columbia and Barnard wrote in their emails to the student journalists that they reserved the right to take further disciplinary action. 

Student journalists were not specifically targeted in these instances, but rather, as Spectator wrote, “it appear[ed] these officers responded indiscriminately toward anyone in their path.”

Such actions, however, set a dangerous precedent for the freedom of student press. Press — the only profession explicitly named under the First Amendment — has an obligation to seek and report the truth. We cannot, and will not, allow fear, censorship, or retaliation to dictate our coverage. Whether through methods of direct oppression or quiet policy changes, infringements on the freedom of the press threaten the very foundation of democratic accountability on college campuses.

University administrators must protect and not infringe upon the duties of the student press, even as their reporters uncover truths and publish stories that may run contrary to institutional goals. 

The attacks at Columbia were not the only recent instance threatening the student press.

On March 27, Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by plainclothes immigration officers and had her visa revoked. According to Öztürk’s friends and colleagues, her only known activism was co-authoring an op-ed in Tufts' student newspaper, The Tufts Daily. Öztürk has since been released from detention, but her case remains a chilling reminder of the risks members of the student press may face.

Student news organizations cannot afford to cave to fear and self-censorship. Doing so undermines their credibility, weakens their watchdog role, and sets a dangerous precedent for journalistic independence.

But censorship of student journalism does not always take overt or violent forms. It can also manifest as institutional opacity and the suppression of public records. 

In October of 2024, the DP published an article reporting that Penn and Philadelphia Police officers had executed a search warrant at an off-campus property allegedly belonging to pro-Palestinian student activists — an act that Penn’s Division of Public Safety had confirmed in a statement. Pennsylvania law requires copies of search warrants to be filed with the Philadelphia Criminal Court Office of Judicial Records. The University of Pennsylvania Police Department and the PPD said at the time that it was the other’s responsibility to do so. After multiple public records requests aiming to obtain a copy of the warrant were denied, and after multiple unproductive conversations with University communications and Public Safety officials, the DP, represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed a complaint asking the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas to order the city to provide us a copy of the warrant.

In January, nearly three months after the off-campus search was conducted, UPPD turned over three search warrants to the Philadelphia Criminal Court Office of Judicial Records, from which the DP obtained copies. The warrants were used to report that Penn conducted a surveillance operation using phone records, digital data, and CCTV footage to investigate an instance of vandalism on campus, which eventually led to the warrants being executed. 

Without this information, the Penn community was unaware of the circumstances behind the warrant and the investigation and surveillance that provoked it. After we published our investigative story in January, we saw the impact of this reporting and the discussions it prompted on campus, and we gained an even greater understanding for how crucial access to public records and freedom of the press is. 

At a time of uncertainty and federal change, we must be exceptionally clear: The DP condemns all attacks on student press freedom and all First Amendment violations in the strongest possible terms. We urge Penn and peer institutions to do the same.

The DP endorses Spectator in its demands for change outlined in recent letters from the editors:

First, Columbia must publicly acknowledge the harm caused by Columbia Public Safety officers and the NYPD at the Butler Library protest both to student journalists and the wider Columbia community.

Second, Columbia and Barnard must issue apologies to every student suspended for a protest they did not participate in.

Third, Columbia University Acting President Claire Shipman must sit for an interview with the Spectator to reopen proper channels of communication between the university administration and its community.

At a time when freedom of the press is consistently under attack, the role of journalism — and independent student journalism on campuses nationwide — has never been more crucial. We rely on our universities and our communities to support, not hinder, student journalism, and are proud of the work we do to bring accurate, objective reporting to our community each day.

The Daily Pennsylvanian is releasing this statement alongside The Duke Chronicle, The Daily Tar Heel, Daily Trojan, The Daily Emerald, and The Purdue Exponent.

EMILY SCOLNICK is a College senior studying history and communication from Wayne, Pa. She is the DP Editor-in-Chief on the 141st Board of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Her email is scolnick@thedp.com.

DIAMY WANG is a College senior studying political science and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies from Alhambra, Calif. She is the Executive Editor on the 141st Board of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Her email is dwang@thedp.com.