University of Massachusetts at Amherst: Student Newspapers Stolen While Police Officer Watches

When student Vanessa Snow was ridiculed in an issue of the conservative campus newspaper The Minutemen at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Snow is a leader of UMass' Student Bridges, a campus organization supported by the UMass Amherst Student Government Association (SGA). She was mocked by name in an issue of the paper for her financial practices, and took action, violating the First Amendment right to free speech of the student group who publishes the newspaper, by standing on the stack of newspapers preventing their distribution. After protest to the school by FIRE, Snow has since been reprimanded for her misconduct.

    Case Materials

  • "Victory for First Amendment Rights at UMass Amherst: Administration Rejects Censorship of Newspaper," April 23, 2009: Under pressure from FIRE, University of Massachusetts Amherst has rejected the student government's official censorship of The Minuteman, a conservative campus newspaper that mocked a student government official. In addition, FIRE has learned that UMass Amherst has held accountable at least one of the people who stole copies of The Minuteman out of the hands of a student while a campus police officer watched and did nothing.
  • "UMass Amherst Stands by as Student Newspaper is Stolen and Censored," April 16, 2009: Multiple First Amendment violations have rocked the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus in recent days. UMass has done nothing about the videotaped theft of and, later, the student government's official censorship of The Minuteman, a conservative campus newspaper that mocked a student government official. Worse, last night, when a student senator offered a bill to reverse the unconstitutional censorship of The Minuteman, the Senate's speaker had the UMass police throw him out (video of this incident is expected soon). These assaults on free speech came in the wake of last month's disgraceful episode in which a speech by columnist Don Feder was shouted down by hecklers while UMass police officers did nothing. The many aggrieved parties on this out-of-control campus have come to FIRE for help.
  • "Incident Report Filed by Vanessa Snow and Detective's Narrative," April 15, 2009
  • "Derek Khanna removed from SGA senate meeting," The Daily Collegian Online, April 15, 2009
  • "FIRE Letter to UMass Amherst Chancellor Robert C. Holub," April 10, 2009