Lindsie Rank
FIRE Staff Speaker

Campus Rights Team
Lindsie Rank is a 2018 graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Law, Media & Communication dual-degree program, through which she earned a J.D. and a master’s in mass communication with a focus on First Amendment law. For her master’s thesis, Lindsie conducted a nationwide survey of college newspaper editors to examine the prevalence of administrative censorship of student media. Lindsie spent the summer of 2015 as a FIRE legal intern.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Lindsie grew up on an onion farm in the heart of the Columbia Valley and earned her B.A. in English and journalism at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. In her spare time, she enjoys sewing her wardrobe, spending hours in the kitchen whipping up vegan cuisine, and snuggling her pugador pups.
Recent Writings
- Indiana University stifles student press by blocking access to public records,
- Title IX weaponized against student journalists, again. This time, at Princeton.,
- This month on the SPFI hotline: Public records and Title IX,
- After FIRE letter, university administrator apologizes for confiscating student newspapers,
- After FIRE letter, UW Oshkosh changes employee media policy to allow student journalists access to staff sources,
- FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative to host free ‘FOIA & Public Records 101’ webinar May 5,
- Cover story ‘cover-up’: Emporia State University newspapers mysteriously hidden under manila folders,
- Litigation against student newspapers remains uncommon, but recent suits counsel vigilance,
- This month on the SPFI hotline: Public records laws as applied to private university police forces,
- Communixed: Berea College administration targets student publication,
- On Student Press Freedom Day, FIRE report shows majority of student newspapers face administrative censorship,
- FIRE launches Student Press Freedom Initiative to fight censorship in student media,
- Reimagining student media advisory boards as a boon to college press freedom,
- Something stinks at Tarleton: Secret documents, censorship demands, and an apparent newspaper takeover,
- Who’s protected by a free student press? Part II: Viewpoint diversity and neutrality in the newsroom,
- FIRE launches Can I Publish This? — a clickable guide to media and First Amendment law for student journalists,
- Who’s protected by a free student press? Part I: The right to editorial independence.,
- A frivolous threat of a lawsuit, then a serious threat of defunding: Student journalists at Tarleton State University are under attack,
- Lane Community College leaders caught on video reducing funding for student newspaper because of the paper’s content,
- FIRE urges transparency in Nikole Hannah-Jones tenure denial at University of North Carolina,
- She spoke up when a professor wronged her. Then Sam Houston State expelled her.,
- What should happen when a student paper receives a censorship demand?,
- Student press gets big win as Kentucky Supreme Court sides with student newspaper,
- UC Berkeley clarifies media policies after FIRE letter; student journalists get equal campus access,
- After five decades of oversight, UC Davis student newspaper secures right to select its own leadership,
- Questions remain after Frostburg State calls off investigation into student journalist,
- FIRE continues to urge reform to press policies at 15 top colleges,
- FIRE’s new hotline allows rapid response to student press censorship,
- FIRE urges 15 top colleges and universities to improve restrictive press policies,
- UVA makes clear RAs may speak to the media,
- University of Virginia reportedly latest in rash of universities silencing RAs amid coronavirus panic,
- Georgia high school students’ suspension amid pandemic poses valuable lessons about free expression at colleges and universities, too,
- Report: Top colleges and universities restrict rights of professional and student press,
- Hardin-Simmons student ‘no longer enrolled’ after controversial videos,
- Student-athletes sworn to “code of silence,” Brechner Center study finds,
- How UC Davis’s Orwellian ‘Media Board’ can control student media,
- Whitman College restricts the listservs students rely on to remain in touch during COVID-19,
- Indiana University cuts short student-planned SexFest after paddling controversy,
- After scandal, questions remain about Central Washington University’s new promise to support student media,
- Listen: Recording captures public university officials questioning students about ‘risk’ of championing vegan diet,
- Student editor on Capital University cop stealing paper: It’s like someone saying ‘All your work is trash.’,
- Diablo Valley College violates First Amendment, state law, by dismissing newspaper adviser,
- Chapman University president right to apologize for censoring student newspaper,
- University of Illinois Title IX mandatory reporting policy creates chilling effect, potentially hampers student press,
- Another heckler’s veto at Georgetown: Clown and crew disrupt climate policy event ,
- Duquesne walks back censorship of campus fashion show,
- FIU’s athletics press pass policy risks rights of student journalists,
- John Carroll says cancelling student-organized drag show is in line with “its free expression values”,
- John Carroll University bans student-run drag show in attempt to avoid controversy,

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