Florida Atlantic University: Student Employees Fear Termination for Speaking to Student Journalists

When student journalists at FAU sought interviews for a story on dorm conditions in December 2022, FAU resident assistants told reporters they feared facing reprimand or termination if they spoke to the reporters without administrators’ permission. On March 29, FIRE wrote FAU with concerns that its treatment of the RAs goes against the policies FAU implemented in 2021 in response to FIRE’s warning them not to silence students who want to speak with reporters without prior permission. FIRE urged FAU to revise its policies to further respect the rights of its employees and the student press and to train its administrators, supervisors, and other employees about those rights and university policy.