IU to Resume Printing Student Paper After Censorship Controversy

Indiana University officials are walking back plans to suspend print publication of the student newspaper following faculty and alumni outrage over a censorship controversy last month.

University officials allegedly told Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush to censor a homecoming edition of the Indiana Daily Student, restricting coverage to information about homecoming only—no news, according to the publication’s editors. When Rodenbush resisted, he was fired.

Officials then suspended publication of the student newspaper, claiming the move was made, in part, to align “IU with industry trends and offering experiential opportunities more consistent with digital-first media careers of the future,” according to emails obtained by Inside Higher Ed.

But now officials have changed their mind about pulling the plug on print.

IU Bloomington chancellor David Reingold wrote in a letter printed by the Indiana Daily Student that he had “authorized the financial office to allow the IDS, under the supervision of The Media School, to use their established budget through June 30, 2026, as the editors see fit—so long as they remain true to their budgetary parameters.” While he did not explicitly say that meant resuming print, student editors wrote that IU officials had “backtracked” on the decision.

The next edition will be printed on Nov. 20.

“I recognize and accept that the campus has not handled recent decisions as well as we should have,” Reingold wrote. He also claimed IU officials “never attempted to censor editorial content.”

The decision to censor the newspaper has been roundly condemned by the Student Press Law Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and alumni, faculty and students. (FIRE previously deemed IU one of the worst universities for free speech on campus.) The censorship controversy also prompted some alumni to pull donations to IU.

Rodenbush sued IU for wrongful termination the same day Reingold announced that the university had reversed course on printing the Indiana Daily Student. He alleged in his lawsuit that “the IDS had been instructed to print only fluff pieces about IU’s upcoming homecoming and no news.” Officials sought to restrict the IDS “to propaganda about IU’s football program,” the lawsuit said.

Indiana officials did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.