UNC hosts student free press event

In 1988, a Supreme Court ruling restricted the rights of high school journalists, and UNC will host a symposium to reinforce the importance of the First Amendment.

The symposium will commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, in which the Supreme Court ruled that school administrations have the right to restrict student journalism.

The UNC Center for Media Law and Policy, the Student Press Law Center, the First Amendment Law Review and the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association are hosting the event.

Cathy Packer, co-director of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy, said UNC is the perfect place to host the symposium because it has a long, strong tradition of believing in free expression.

“The University is supposed to be a robust marketplace of ideas, and students learn by participating in this marketplace,” Packer said.

A panel today will include two of the students responsible for filing the lawsuit against the Hazelwood School District after their principal censored the school newspaper by eliminating articles pertaining to teenage pregnancy and divorce.

Friday’s events include several speakers, including keynote speaker Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Irvine, School of Law, who Packer said is considered one of the most famous constitutional law scholars in the United States.

Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said that addressing journalism and law together will stimulate a discussion which he hopes will reach the ears of education policy makers.

“Even though it is seen as a legal matter, at the end of day, it is also an education policy issue about what provides the best learning environment,” LoMonte said. “Not how much authority a school can get away with using.”

LoMonte said the center decided more than a year ago that it wanted to organize a symposium dedicated to the Hazelwood case.

UNC was chosen because it had a law school with a journal devoted to First Amendment laws, as well as a journalism school that is building a national reputation for excellence in media law.

“We really want to keep the Hazelwood issue on the national agenda for discussion so people recognize lack of autonomy,” LoMonte said.

“Those who work in the field know that the lack of a favorable climate for free expression hurts more than just journalism, but provides a disempowering learning environment for all students.”

Graduate student Liz Woolery, who studies mass communication, is planning to attend the symposium.

“Even though it has been 25 years, there is still a lot of confusion and questions related to students’ First Amendment rights,” Woolery said.

“As the number of mediums to communicate through grows, we are going to see an increase in the number of questions pertaining to student speech rights.”

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