School Spotlight
Haskell Indian Nations University
Speech Code Rating
- At present, FIRE does not maintain information on this school's policies.
Haskell Indian Nations University: Administration Sends Censorial “Directives” to Student Newspaper Editor and University Employees
October 26, 2020
Nally v. Graham Complaint In the fall of 2020, student journalist Jared Nally drew the ire of Haskell Indian Nations University President Ronald Graham. After Nally’s reporting criticized Haskell, Graham issued a “Directive” forbidding Nally from engaging in standard newsgathering activities like recording interviews or asking questions of public officials. Graham’s Directive threatened Nally with… Read more
Haskell Indian Nations University: Denial of Hearing After Student Kicked Out of Campus Housing
April 29, 2020
On April 8, 2020, Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU) student Russell Parker was golfing on his nearly-empty campus when a staff member ordered him to leave and threatened to tow his nearby car if he refused. Parker asked the administrator if he was “on some kind of power trip” and said he was “being an… Read more
VICTORY: Court orders college that muzzled student journalists to adopt sweeping reform to protect student speech and press rights after now-ousted president forbade criticism
February 8, 2022
Haskell Indian Nations University required by court to safeguard student press rights, pay $40,000 in attorneys fees. Fight continues at Supreme Court: Haskell president ‘is a prime example of a federal official who abused his power and should not be shielded from the consequences.’ LAWRENCE, Kan., Feb. 8, 2022 — After facing censorship, coercion, and… Read more
Rights demand remedies: FIRE files brief urging the Supreme Court to permit damages when feds retaliate against protected speech
January 26, 2022
A system of justice exists to right legal wrongs. When the Founding Fathers adopted the First Amendment, they established a system of justice under which infringing on free speech constitutes a legal wrong. When the system fails to remedy that legal wrong, it also fails to fulfill its essential function. The Supreme Court itself recognized… Read more
FIRE: 2, Haskell: 0 as university rescinds misguided directives muzzling faculty speech
April 7, 2021
After FIRE’s intervention, the Bureau of Indian Education rescinds the directives from President Ronald Graham and his administration that threatened faculty rights Last month, FIRE sued Haskell and Graham for another unconstitutional directive — that one aimed at a student journalist LAWRENCE, Kan., April 7, 2021 — On Tuesday, a federal agency rescinded two unconstitutional… Read more
Embattled Haskell administration forbids criticism from faculty days after being sued for violating students’ First Amendment rights
March 25, 2021
LAWRENCE, Kan., March 25, 2021 — Just days after being sued in federal court for violating students’ First Amendment rights, Haskell Indian Nations University President Ronald Graham is going after the speech rights of his faculty. In a personally signed directive, Graham chastised his “detractors” and forbade all employees, including faculty, from expressing opinions about… Read more
LAWSUIT: Student reporter sues university president for forbidding journalism
March 2, 2021
Following Student Press Freedom Day, FIRE files a lawsuit on behalf of student newspaper and editor-in-chief against Haskell Indian Nations University and its president who issued “directive” forbidding routine newsgathering Federally-operated tribal university in Kansas shorted funding for student newspaper by over $10,000 without any explanation and ignored emails for months LAWRENCE, Kan., March 2,… Read more
10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2021
February 17, 2021
This year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education is releasing its 10th list of the “worst colleges for free speech.” Since our first list in 2011, more than 70 institutions in 31 states have found themselves named and shamed for actively working to shut down student and faculty speech rights. Each year, hundreds of… Read more
FIRE presents the 10 Worst Colleges for Free Speech: 2021
February 17, 2021
PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 17, 2021 — Would you make a student homeless during the pandemic because you didn’t like something he said? Or threaten faculty doctors fighting COVID-19 with termination for speaking to the press? If you’re a campus official at one of the schools on this list, you just might! In the 10th edition of… Read more
Haskell Indian Nations University: Dear student journalist, we forgot to tell you that you can talk again.
January 19, 2021
After three months, HINU president rescinds unconstitutional directive forbidding student journalist from routine newsgathering. President meant to rescind the directive in November, but did not inform student due to an “administrative error.” FIRE files complaint with Department of Education, calls for policy changes to protect students from future censorship. LAWRENCE, Kan., Jan. 19, 2021 —… Read more
The Indian Leader was censored [VIDEO]
November 9, 2020
FIRE files complaint with the Department of the Interior over HINU ‘directive’ to student journalist
October 27, 2020
Yesterday, we shared an egregious “directive” issued by the president of Haskell Indian Nations University — a public university operated by the federal government — to a student journalist who had the audacity to draw “unwarranted attention” to the university’s president. Together with the Student Press Law Center and Native American Journalists Association, we wrote… Read more
University president threatens student newspaper editor for asking questions, not treating administration with ‘highest respect’
October 26, 2020
Haskell Indian Nations University president issues student-editor a “directive” entirely incompatible with practice of actual journalism. Student-editor: “When our university challenges the free speech of students, they are silencing a whole generation of Native voices.” Saga is a warning to student journalists across the country. LAWRENCE, Kan., Oct. 26, 2020 — In a meandering, scolding… Read more