UTD Student Newspaper Launches Public Appeal to Continue Investigating Administration’s Alleged Editorial Interference and Violent Police Response to Peaceful Pro-Palestinian Encampment

Photo credit: Anika Sultana

May 1 was Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez’s first day as editor-in-chief of The Mercury, the University of Texas at Dallas’ (UT Dallas) award-winning student newspaper - it was also the same day that a pro-Palestinian campus encampment was set up on campus in Chess Plaza, like so many others nationwide and across the world. 

This, like many of those others was dismantled, with scenes of chaos and mass arrests of peaceful protesters. On May 20 The Mercury published an emergency issue with a series of articles, including this one - “Despite administration’s silence, community supports 21 arrested at ‘Gaza Liberation Plaza.” 

Another article included an interview with a much respected and beloved art history professor, Ali Alibhai who was allegedly violently arrested, along with two other UTD professors, after trying to calm tensions and peacefully advocate on behalf of students. 

Shortly after this, the student journalists say their supportive interim director, Jonathan Stewart, was replaced by the University’s Senior Director of Marketing and Student Media, Jenni Huffenberger. They say she told them the university deemed their reporting unethical and accused them of “journalistic activism.”

“We previously consulted groups such as the Student Press Law Center and different experts in the journalistic field before going to print, so this came as a surprise to us that it will be called journalistic malpractice … a very alarming accusation to come from the new director, who was appointed by campus administration,” said Olivares Gutierrez. 

In a brief response to AMT, UT Dallas did not respond to these claims directly but did deny editorial interference, insisting there was no retaliation against Stewart. “This individual is currently the assistant director of student media and was not demoted. He served in an interim capacity only as director of student media. A new director began on Monday, July 15.” 

However, The Mercury’s Graphics Editor, Anika Sultana echoes Olivares Gutierrez’s claims that the editorial team was told their May 20 issue was inadequate and says the administration justified Stewart’s replacement as a benevolent act. 

“While they're saying they have our best interests in mind, it feels like they're very disillusioned with the way that student media works,” said Sultana, who will be a senior this fall. 

Olivares Gutierrez says they have already raised over $3000 to initiate a Texas Public Information Act (PIA) request to access internal communications deemed public records - the total bill they could face to obtain the information and disseminate it could be a prohibitive amount -  over $8,000. 

As of July 24, payment has been submitted to the Office of Legal Affairs, allowing The Mercury to view the requested records. 

The GoFundMe appeal statement reveals what's at stake, “We might discover that administrators were told to have protesters arrested and to squash protest activity by someone in the state government. We might discover that the administration is planning on firing the arrested faculty or withholding degrees from arrested students … We might discover something else or nothing at all — but it is our duty as journalists to do the digging and keep the public informed.” 

Photo credit: Surjaditya Sarkar

The Mercury has requested access to call logs from April 22 to May 20 between the university President, Richard Benson, Vice President and Chief of Staff, Rafael Martin, Dean of Students, Amanda Smith and UTD chief of police, Brent Tourangeau. 

Its coverage followed the “Gaza Liberation Plaza” established by Students for Justice in Palestine members, starting at 4:30 a.m. Less than 12 hours later, Texas State Troopers arrived wearing riot gear and began forcibly dismantling the encampment and arresting protesters. 

The university claimed the encampment was against school policy. The Mercury challenges this by pointing to the fraternities that set up encampments for “Welcome Week” and RedBull advertising that also has a semi-permanent display. 

The paper points out that the UT Dallas admin did not respond to its requests for comment and further information regarding law enforcement’s arrival and the arrests before publication. 

Before publishing its May 20 article, the newsroom consulted with the Student Press Law Center to ensure integrity and accuracy. Due to the urgency of the student encampment situation, The Mercury released an “emergency paper”, which is not typical practice for the publication. 

Photo credit: Anika Sultana

 

The student journalists remain skeptical of the timing of Stewart’s removal and believe they were reporting facts from reliable sources when they described the scenes of aggression and violence witnessed by students and the world through local and national media reports. The 21 students, professors, alumni and community members arrested face criminal trespass charges and a community fund has been set up to help pay for their legal fees. 

Olivares Gutierrez points out that when the imposed director, Huffenberger took over, she did not allow the students to submit the May 20 article to the ACP Pacemaker Award. He says Huffenberger also asked the students to send their articles to her for review before publishing, which he says was not the previous protocol. 

The Office of Legal Affairs does FOIA requests at UT Dallas and The Mercury is in contact with attorney Vanessa Balderrama to try and reduce the total cost of the records.