AURORA | A national organization aimed at protecting free speech is denouncing the Community College of Aurora for issuing “unconstitutional demands” of student journalists, including prohibiting them from conducting interviews and publishing stories. 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent a letter Thursday on behalf of student journalist Andy Green and the independent student media organization he founded, called FoxTalk, urging the Community College of Aurora to correct “its blatant violation of Green’s and FoxTalk’s First Amendment rights.”

The online publication is at ReadFoxTalk.com.

Green is facing disciplinary action from the college for interviewing students and publishing stories after administrators demanded he pause publication and interviews while FoxTalk went through the process to become an official student-led organization.

However, the college maintains that it has not restricted any publication or speech. In a statement, Courtney Butler, executive director of strategic communications for the Community College of Aurora, said the school supports freedom of speech and expression.

“Students do not need the college’s permission to express their views, engage in journalism, or publish independently,” Butler said.

The statement adds that the school has viewpoint-neutral procedures to be recognized as a college-affiliated organization, which are “applied consistently to student organizations without regard to their mission, beliefs, or editorial viewpoint.” The school maintains it has worked with Green and FoxTalk to complete the process.

“The matter concerns compliance with the same organizational requirements applicable to other students seeking official college recognition and resources — not the content or viewpoint of the proposed publication,” Butler said. 

The statement said that because the situation involves a student and potential student records, it cannot discuss “specific communications or additional details.”

A Friday response to FIRE’s letter said the college is reviewing the concerns and will respond when the review is complete. FIRE urged CCA to drop its disciplinary actions and lift its publication ban.

Green first established FoxTalk as a student-led organization in March, but then received a demand from administration in April to “pause online stories and student outreach” until the operational structure of FoxTalk was formalized, according to emails between Green and school administrators provided to the Sentinel. The CCA school mascot is the fox.

FoxTalk is the first student-led media organization at CCA, to Green’s knowledge.

Administrators also requested FoxTalk send a monthly email “outlining the articles and events you plan to cover,” get waivers for photography and interviews and have all stories get approval from the school’s strategic communications team prior to publication.

Green told the Sentinel he was concerned about the request to stop interviews and publication, which he said “blurs the line between an independent student publication and institutional communications.”

He said he never got clarity on why CCA was concerned about FoxTalk conducting interviews and publishing stories.

“We are a four-month-old student publication and we should not need seven administrators, multiple conduct proceedings and the college president’s office involved just to figure out whether we can publish stories and interview students,” Green said. 

In May, the college sent Green specific language to post on the FoxTalk website and Green’s personal substack, which states that the publications are not official communication channels for the school. 

The language referred to FoxTalk as “a student-led publication” that “operates independently and is not an official communications channel of the Community College of Aurora.” That language is currently on the FoxTalk website.

As Green continued to work with college administrators to establish FoxTalk, he also continued publishing stories. Then in July, Green found out he was facing disciplinary action for an allegation that he was “interviewing students while at Lowry Studios,” according to a letter sent by the college. The college said Green conducting interviews constituted a “failure to comply with or follow the lawful directives of College employees.”

A disciplinary process found Green responsible for violating the student code of conduct and he was issued an institutional warning. He appealed and was denied.

A second disciplinary allegation was made against Green, FoxTalk and other student journalists on July 23, which “alleges FoxTalk of interviewing students, continued reporting and posting via the FoxTalk website, contacting CCA campus partners in connection to FoxTalk, and not following directives” from college administrators.

Green is still in the disciplinary process for that allegation. Green said several other FoxTalk contributors have also been disciplined.

Dominic Coletti, program officer at FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative, said he has not seen “a college, or even high school, case that is as sweeping in its restrictions on student speech.” Coletti said the First Amendment protects student journalists from prior restraint and most censorship. 

“We’re disturbed by how far the college has gone in suppressing student speech,” Coletti said. 

Coletti said the potential First Amendment issues with CCA’s actions include prior restraint, prior review of articles and compelled speech, all of which chills speech. He noted the contradiction of wanting to distance the FoxTalk website from official communications channels, while also wanting oversight.

“They’re saying ‘We’re not liable for whatever happens here and it’s not the official voice of the college,’ but also they want to control (Green’s) ability to publish and those two things can’t both be true,” Coletti said.

Coletti also disputed CCA’s claim that it’s applying the same standards to all student-led organizations, adding that CCA can’t require student-led organizations to submit to unconstitutional rules.

“The college seems to think that it can justify this as a normal part of its student organization registration protocols, but what it can’t do is say ‘Until you complete these protocols, nobody in your group is allowed to speak,’” he said. 

A March email from the college said student-led organizations must have a faculty advisor and three student members, as well as submit a membership roster and an organizational constitution, and take training. Emails confirm that Green submitted a roster and constitution, as well as completed training. 

However, administrators later requested FoxTalk submit information about its “operational structure and organizational framework,” telling Green he could not publish stories until the college approved the structure.

Coletti said setting different standards for media organizations, even if all media are held to the same standards, from other student organizations is still a type of content-based restriction. 

“I find it hard to believe that other student groups are being required to have conversations with the college about the exact way they’re going to interact with spokespeople, faculty and staff,” Coletti said. “I get the impression that the math club just gets to talk to math professors whenever they want.”

Coletti also raised concerns about the college requesting a complete roster of contributors to FoxTalk, which risks chilling student association with the news media site for fear of retaliation.

Colorado law does provide protections from censorship to student journalists in public schools, but the law does not currently apply to college students, according to the Student Press Law Center. 

The law prevents schools from prior restraint, which is when administrators attempt to prevent publication of stories, and states that students are responsible for content decisions. Schools can prevent publication of unprotected speech, such as obscenity or libel.

Jack Kennedy, a former executive director for the Colorado Student Media Association, said no school is able to control how interviews are conducted and they can’t restrict who students speak with.

“The idea that you’d have to run it by some powers-that-be so that you could even talk to a football player about his game last weekend is just crazy talk by administrators,” he said.

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