This situation at Western Illinois University caused by a video. Katherine Schaeffer from the Student Press Law Center reports.

Western Illinois U. editor reinstated after suspension for freelancing video of campus brawl

ILLINOIS — Administrators at Western Illinois University lifted the student newspaper editor’s suspension Monday — nearly two weeks after they removed him from his job because he sold a video of campus police officers’ response to a fight.

Nicholas Stewart received an email from Vice President of Student Services Gary Biller’s office Monday evening, notifying him that his suspension had been lifted, reinstating him as editor in chief of the Western Courier.

“Given the lack of guidance available regarding Western Courier policies and procedures, I am lifting your suspension immediately,” the letter said, “and I will inform the publications board of this action.”

On Dec. 12, Stewart filmed

campus police pepper-spraying a group of students after a fight broke out on campus following a Black Student Association Dance. That evening, he uploaded the video to Live Storms Media, a company he freelances for, and to his personal YouTube channel.
On Jan. 22, Stewart was barred from participating in the student newspaper because selling the video posed a “threat to the normal operations of the university,” according to a letter Biller sent the student editor. He was placed on paid administrative suspension until the university’s judiciary committee determined whether he should receive further punishment.

Stewart and Chicago attorney Gabriel Fuentes, who became involved in the case through the Student Press Law Center’s Attorney Referral Network, scheduled meetings for Jan. 28 with the newspaper’s publications board and the university’s auditor.

The publications board, a group of faculty members, media professionals and students that oversees the Western Courier’s budget and operations, set a second “emergency meeting” for Feb. 4, to discuss Stewart’s case. The university’s auditor failed to show up to a planned meeting later that day, Stewart said.