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The United States Constitution includes words about the freedom of the press in the First Amendment. As with all the amendments, there are frequent questions about their interpretations. In late 2015, Melissa Click, an assistant professor of communications at the University of Missouri, attempted to block the press from covering a protest on campus. Her actions and her subsequent firing raises questions about the First Amendment and how it is interpreted on college campuses, especially regarding student-led events. Many schools, including Indiana University and its IUPUI affiliates do not have policies about excluding or admitting the press to cover student events.

The issue in the IUPUI system is that public college campuses are just that - public spaces. There are other types of spaces in public colleges, traditional and limited public spaces and there are also nonpublic spaces like concert halls and power plants. Another problem with blocking the freedom of the press to attend student-run events includes the possibility of blocking the freedom of students to assemble. The Indiana Constitution has stronger protections for the press and for those who want to assemble than the federal Constitution has. Due to the issues involved in maintaining the First Amendment, college campuses, like IUPUI need to develop clear policies that protect the First Amendment rights of the press, students, and professionals on campus.

While crafting a First Amendment policy that is constitutional and understandable, it is important to decide where the media can go and where students can go. Using the events that happened at the University of Missouri with Professor Click, it is vital that the policy should divide areas of IUPUI campuses into traditionally open, limited, and nonpublic spaces. With the fallout of the Click firing, the University of Missouri is facing a 5% decline in enrollment which has created a fiscal shortfall of $32 million. IUPUI needs to protect itself from problems like these by deciding if to create “safe zones” where students can assemble without the intrusion of the media. And, if IUPUI does do this, would it be constitutionally permitted. Evaluating the legality of media-free safe zone needs to be done using the Indiana Constitution because the safe zones would be on state property.

Many colleges have established safe zones, which are often rooms where clubs can meet, so that students can meet without having to justify their beliefs (usually students who identify with LBGBTQ, veterans, or unique groups). But, at the University of Missouri, the space where Click tried to block journalists was in a public outdoor space. A student journalist was attempting to enter the space to question students who were protesting there. Professor Click and the student journalist entered a shoving match, which is why she was fired and charges were pressed against her.