Two student journalists at James Madison University investigating a story about a peeping tom in a student dorm have been charged with trespassing for interviewing students in one of the campus dorms.
While reporters for the Breeze were conducting interviews they were confronted by the resident assistant and campus administrator who removed them from the building. A few days later the reporters received an e-mail informing them that the school was bringing disciplinary charges against them for trespassing, disorderly conduct, and non-compliance with an official request.
JMU’s policies allow visitors to enter dorms as long as a resident accompanies them. One of the reporters was a resident of the dorms and they carried a printed copy of the policy while interviewing students.
Unfortunately this isn’t the first time James Madison University has ignored its student’s constitutional rights. JMU maintains a classic "speech zone" limiting student speech like demonstrations and petitioning to one small area on campus.
Hopefully the attention this issue is garnering JMU will convince the campus administration that infringing on students’ free speech is more problematic than a few uncomfortable questions from a student journalist.