By Cathy Kuhlmeier So often, I’m asked: “Why did we (The Spectrum staff) push the issue over being censored rather than just let it go?” Honestly, it’s quite simple: we believed that our story topics were relevant to our student body and, even more than that, we believed that sharing these stories might make a … Continue reading Big or small, changemaking takes different forms
Blog Posts
The Hidden Cost of Silencing Student Voices
When people think of censorship, they often picture a dramatic moment – a book banned, a protest silenced, a headline pulled from the front page. But censorship isn’t always loud. Often, it’s quiet and personal – it happens in ways that don’t make national news but still change the course of someone’s life. Before I … Continue reading The Hidden Cost of Silencing Student Voices
Recent cases show that officials must do more to protect student speech
Dave Roland, JD More than fifty years ago, in the landmark First Amendment case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the U.S. Supreme Court famously proclaimed that students' constitutional rights to free expression “do not stop at the schoolhouse gate.” Yet a disturbing nationwide trend shows that school officials and law enforcement increasingly reach far beyond … Continue reading Recent cases show that officials must do more to protect student speech
My mother is my hero – and she can be yours, too
Growing up, I never fully understood why my mom was flying all over the country, speaking about a court case she had been involved in back in high school. I knew about the articles and the case itself, but I didn't truly grasp the impact it had - on her, or on others. That changed … Continue reading My mother is my hero – and she can be yours, too
What high school journalism teaches
A former high school journalist from the ‘80s visited her old hometown recently and shot some lovely photos of the downtown streets, the artsy old theater, the city park and river running through it, and she put them on her Facebook page. Her journalism teacher, who had also moved away, saw them and said the … Continue reading What high school journalism teaches
Introducing the Cathy Kuhlmeier Foundation
The semicolon is an enemy of journalists everywhere. At least that’s what one of my journalism professors told me in my undergrad days. “Just use a period,” she said. “Don’t make things more complicated than they need to be.” My students received the same advice from me - every semicolon received a red slash, with … Continue reading Introducing the Cathy Kuhlmeier Foundation
Cathy Kuhlmeier Foundation 