Pennsylvania State University: Administrators Take Down Student Paper’s Newsstands, Steal Issues Over Political Advertising

On September 18, 2024, Pennsylvania State University administrators secreted away 35 newsstands and all copies of the paper in the newsstands belonging to the Daily Collegian, Penn State’s student-run newspaper, without any warning to the paper’s staff. When the stands were replaced two days later, hundreds of copies of the paper were missing and most of the advertisements had been removed. Penn State claimed the ads violated university policies prohibiting commercial marketing on campus, even though the Collegian has used newsstands to sell advertisements for years. FIRE wrote the university on September 27, explaining that Penn State’s removal of the newsstands was impermissible censorship, and the advertising policies it cited are unconstitutional. We also pointed out how Penn State’s actions continue a trend of attacks on student journalism at the university.