Penn State removes student newspapers, sparking free speech debate

Penn State University removed dozens of newsstands from campus buildings that contained its student newspaper because nine of them displayed political ads above the newspaper rack itself: three for Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and six promoting voter registration.

Penn State administrators say the posters violated rules about advertising and use of facilities on campus.

The Daily Collegian, though, called the removal Wednesday night without notice an attack on free speech.

Most of the 35 news racks removed had no ad posters, but they and the papers in them were taken anyway, said Collegian general manager Wayne Lowman.

“I just think it was overreach,” he told TribLive on Friday.

The racks, owned by the newspaper, were returned Friday without the advertisements and, in some cases, the newspapers, Lowman said. The newspapers removed were from the previous week, and he could not estimate how many were taken. Paid advertisements have become increasingly important to the Collegian as direct support in the university’s budget has been cut.

He said the newspaper may need to give refunds to advertisers, and he could not say whether the Collegian’s legal counsel would seek university reimbursement.

The Collegian publishes a Thursday print edition with 5,000 copies and in recent years has shifted largely to digital format. The Collegian posted a story to its site Thursday night about the removal the evening before. It quoted editor-in-chief Amy Schafer, a third-year student pursuing public relations and global and international studies.

“I was very alarmed when I first noticed that our newsstands were missing. More alarming to me wasn’t necessarily the removal of the stands, but also the papers themselves,” Schafer said. “It’s censoring our outlet, and it’s a violation against free speech to remove our papers.”

She added: “Our student journalists put in a lot of really hard work in making sure that we produce a really quality print edition. I’m surprised that they would do something like this, especially without giving us warning, because we’re not affiliated with the university.”

Lisa Powers, a Penn State spokeswoman, pointed to a pair of regulations that cover advertising and use of campus facilities. She did not specify whether it was the ads for Harris, voter registration or something else that prompted the newspapers’ removal.

“The display and distribution of the paper version of the Daily Collegian is permitted, as the university understands the importance of a free news and information source specifically for its students,” read a statement she shared. “However, the Collegian’s use of advertising space within university buildings is in violation of AD27 Commercial Sales Activities at University Locations and AD02 Non-University Groups Using University Facilities.”

Lowman said the issue centers on the 11-by-17 inch poster ads that extend upward from the racks — space that the university asserts it controls. Lowman said the university does not want anything competing with its vendors, including eateries. He said, for instance, the paper accepts paid ads from Uber Eats.

Lowman said he suspects the university decided to act after someone registered objections specific to the Harris ad.

“Some folks emailed our student leaders asking, you know, why we were you endorsing Kamala Harris, without understanding that this was paid political advertising,” he said.

The posters were marked as advertising, Lowman said, and the Trump campaign or other candidates were not barred from buying poster space.

The Philadelphia-based Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression registered concerns Friday about the removal and offered to assist Collegian staff by investigating the matter.

If it’s truly a business dispute about advertising policy, it would seem Penn State “is taking the nuclear option,” said Robert Shibley, special counsel for campus advocacy.

“I think it sends a very alarming and chilling message to Penn State students when their student newspaper just goes missing one day over this,” he said. “As a free speech organization, we’re concerned about that.”

Penn State’s main University Park campus already was in the political spotlight Thursday as conservative influencer Charlie Kirk made an abbreviated appearance outside the HUB-Robeson Center as part of the Turning Point USA tour “You’re Being Brainwashed.” His supporters accused Penn State of interfering with the event by shutting off his microphone set up on the lawn outside the center, according to Onward State, a student-driven independent, alternative Penn State news website.

Penn State spokesman Wyatt Dubois Friday disagreed.

“The event was allowed to start and continue,” Dubois said.

The Collegian story about the newspaper and newsstand removals indicated that staffers were aware of pushback from people on and off campus about the Harris ad.

“In response to running these political ads, the Collegian received feedback from alumni and students and was notified of university concern Wednesday via an off-the-record conversation,” the article stated. “The source said they heard the university was alleging the advertisements violated advertising rules.”

Grover Cleveland was in the White House when Penn State’s independent student newspaper — then called The Freelance — published its first edition in 1887. The Collegian has a long and storied history but has faced budgetary cuts of late.

The Collegian utilizes advertising sales as a revenue source, the story posted to its site Thursday night said: “Advertising revenue has become increasingly vital after receiving a 100% funding cut from the university’s general fund in 2023, beginning this school year” amid efforts to reduce a budget deficit at Penn State.

Word of the removal began spreading on social media. Among those registering displeasure was Joel Haas, described on the Collegian site as its football editor and a senior journalism major.

“It’s a clear violation of our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and freedom of the press ,” he said on X. “Even if you don’t read the Collegian, or don’t like our coverage, I think everyone can recognize the importance of having an unbiased news source on campus. The Collegian provides an essential public service and has done so since 1887.”