Free speech group condemns Penn State’s removal of student newspapers over Kamala Harris and voter registration ads

STATE COLLEGE, Penn., Sept. 30, 2024 — University administrators who remove student newspapers and newsstands cannot remove their obligation to the First Amendment. 

On Friday, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression condemned Pennsylvania State University’s removal of 35 newsstands containing copies of the student newspaper. FIRE also demanded that Penn State publicly apologize to newspaper staff and affirm that it will not censor the student press in the future.

“Freedom of the press is a basic American right, and it applies to college students,” said FIRE Program Officer Dominic Coletti. “Penn State didn’t just fail to uphold this right. It brazenly violated it.”

On Sept. 18, administrators removed newsstands containing copies of the Daily Collegian, the university’s independent student newspaper, from multiple locations across the public university campus. Three of the newspaper racks displayed an advertisement for presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and six displayed voter registration ads. 

According to the Collegian’s reporting, the university removed the papers without warning after receiving complaints from students and alumni. Later that week, a spokesperson from Penn State claimed that the Collegian’s ads violated two university policies that restrict “commercial sales activities” by non-university groups, despite the fact that the newsstands featured advertisements in years prior.

Advertising revenue is critical to the Collegian’s survival after it faced funding cuts last year. In March, Penn State first halved — and then in July, totally eliminated — its funding of the 137-year-old, award-winning student paper.

In Friday’s letter to Penn State, FIRE explained that newspaper theft is an egregious violation of the First Amendment and often constitutes criminal activity. Public university administrators who steal newspapers are engaged in blatant censorship.

“FIRE’s message to Penn State administrators is simple: Stay in your lane,” said Coletti. “You weren’t hired to be the student paper police. Focus on protecting student rights.” 

Penn State ranks 228 out of 251 institutions in FIRE’s 2025 College Free Speech Rankings, the largest survey ever conducted on campus free speech. The rankings are based on a number of factors, including openness to having conversations about difficult topics, political tolerance, self-censorship, administrative support for free speech, and campus policies.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and sustaining the individual rights of all Americans to free speech and free thought — the most essential qualities of liberty. FIRE recognizes that colleges and universities play a vital role in preserving free thought within a free society. To this end, we place a special emphasis on defending the individual rights of students and faculty members on our nation’s campuses, including freedom of speech, freedom of association, due process, legal equality, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience.

CONTACT

Katie Kortepeter, Communications Campaign Manager, FIRE: 215-717-3473; media@thefire.org