Emporia State University’s student newspaper headline hidden from students
An unknown person at Emporia State University appears to have tried to prevent students from reading a story damaging to the university's reputation.
According to FIRE, ESU student newspaper the Bulletin 'recently published a cover story on the case of Kaitlyn Brasher, a student sued by the university for ‘unearned financial aid.’'
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) is investigating a recent incident at Emporia State University (ESU) where an unknown person appears to have tried to prevent students from reading a story damaging to the university’s reputation.
ESU is located in Emporia, Kansas.
According to FIRE, ESU student newspaper the Bulletin “recently published a cover story on the case of Kaitlyn Brasher, a student sued by the university for ‘unearned financial aid.’”
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After the paper arrived at campus newsstands, an unknown individual seems to have attempted “to hide the news by covering the papers with manila folders in their racks at ESU’s Memorial Union student center,” FIRE reported.
The cover story is bad press for ESU.
Brasher alleges that the university waited until the last minute to inform her of her outstanding debts and did not allow her to negotiate a way to pay back her financial aid.
Brasher told the Bulletin, “[i]t seems intentionally malicious the way [ESU] just so happened to not contact me for four months until it was available to be taken to court and collected on me, to where I can’t even stop it, I have no say in it.”
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The party responsible for obscuring Brasher’s story in the Bulletin with manila folders is still unknown. FIRE is continuing its investigation and alleges that the cover-up could be a violation of First Amendment Rights.
“While this precise type of tampering is new — an apparent attempt to side-step the consequences that come from outright stealing newspapers — it is nonetheless akin to cases of newspaper theft,” FIRE claims.
FIRE went on to implore ESU to “uphold student journalists’ First Amendment right to distribute their publication without interference — from a ‘cover-up’ or any other act of censorship.”
Campus Reform has contacted Emporia State University, FIRE, and made best effort to contact Brasher. This article will be updated accordingly.