Fired newspaper adviser files lawsuit against Indiana University after censorship battle

Source: NBC News

Oct. 31, 2025, 6:40 PM EDT / Updated Oct. 31, 2025, 7:17 PM EDT


The former director of student media at Indiana University and adviser to the student newspaper has filed a lawsuit against the school after he was fired two weeks ago, alleging his termination violated his constitutional rights following an ongoing censorship dispute.

Jim Rodenbush filed the lawsuit Thursday, just more than two weeks after the university terminated him from the Indiana Daily Student (IDS) newspaper on Oct. 14. The lawsuit accuses the university of violating Rodenbush's First and 14th Amendment rights.

"Freedom of the press and academic freedom are sacrosanct in the American imagination," he said in the lawsuit.

The university fired him "in a direct assault on the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment" because he "refused the directive to censor student work," Rodenbush alleges. Indiana University said it does not comment on litigation.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fired-newspaper-adviser-files-lawsuit-indiana-university-rcna241112