It’s been 205 days since Emporia State President Ken Hush spoke with The Bulletin.

After refusing every request for an in-person interview with the campus newspaper since Aug. 2, today, national Student Press Freedom Day, marks almost seven months of silence.

Hush met with then editor-in-chief Noah Eppens in August to discuss the upcoming year and his first semester as ESU president. In that interview, he said “I laugh” at those concerned with the closing of on campus childcare. Apparently stung by the blowback from the published article, it was the last time he agreed to an interview. 

Since then, student reporters have been asked to go through Gwen Larson, director of media relations and internal communication, in order to request interviews with administration. 

When Larson was emailed a request for the prospect of future interviews with Hush, she first accepted before “reconsidering” saying she has nothing else to add. “We will assess each interview request individually,” she said.

When informed about this article via email and asked why Hush hasn’t talked to student publications since August, she did not respond by a 5 p.m. deadline. 

Seth Stern, director of advocacy with Freedom of the Press Foundation, said that student journalists being able to report on universities is “just as important” as professional journalists covering City Hall, saying it’s “vital” for administrators to be transparent with student journalists.  

Stern said it seems to him the problem even goes beyond the administration being unwilling to talk to student journalists. 

“There is an issue of– they’re sort of making student journalists jump through hoops in order to even ascertain whether they’re going to be able to get an interview or a comment,” Stern said. “They’re routing you through a media director, which is an approach that a lot of government agencies have taken as of late, requiring all journalists to go through some sort of public information officer and that’s really harmful to journalism, because it ensures that the only messaging that we’ll ever get out there is sort of the party line, filtered, kind of stale, PR statements.”

Matthew Petillo, news editor for The University Daily Kansan, said that while administration sometimes can’t meet with student journalists due to time constraints they are “generally pretty good” about answering for comment. 

“The last time I spoke with the chancellor, and in fact, anybody spoke with the chancellor was in December,” Petillo said. “It was about this brand new science building that just opened up, and he was made available to several members of the media, including myself.”

Alyssa Tyler, Editor-in-Chief of The Collegio at Pittsburg State, said she has their university president’s phone number and can text him any time she has a question or concern. She also said she would “definitely agree” that he is open and welcoming to student journalists. 

While Tyler said the publication hasn’t needed to interview Dan Shipp personally, he published a “word from the president” for their first print.

“We really haven’t had to interview him for anything,” Tyler said. “But he hasn’t tried to hide from the media or anything like that. He’s pretty well known around campus.”

Today, National Student Press Freedom Day, is a day to recognize the importance of student journalism across the country and “call attention to the arbitrary and needless censorship of student journalists,” according to the Student Press Law Center’s (SPLC) official Press Freedom Day website. 

“Student journalists work on behalf of all students, so when administrators refuse to speak with student journalists, they deny important information to the entire student body,” said Josh Moore, assistant director of SPLC in an email. “Administrators should instead work with journalists to make sure the full story is told.”

This year’s theme is “Bold Journalism and Brave Advocacy.” 

“It takes courage to pursue hard truths, to doggedly investigate important stories, to fight back against censorship, to withstand pressures to self-censor, and to advocate for policies and laws that will protect press freedom for future students,” the website states. “Student journalists do this difficult work every day — and their campuses and communities are stronger for it.”

Tyler echoed this message saying student journalism is “essential” to “go get the facts.” 

“Journalism is essential for not only America, but also for educational institutions,” Tyler said. “I believe it is the responsibility of the faculty, of any member of any educational institution to ensure that these journalism programs are staying alive and that they are communicating. And if they are trying to hide something, and if they are not willing to communicate with student journalism, I believe that does deserve reporting and investigation.”