Evanston Township High School

Regardless of whether a school is public or not, students almost universally face censorship issues involving controversial articles covered in student publications. On September 22, 2018, members of Evanston Township High School’s student-run newspaper, “The Evanstonian,” were stopped in the halls while distributing their latest issue. Despite receiving a “go-ahead” from the principal earlier in the week, despite their status as a public school securing full first amendment press freedoms, and despite the reporting in question being undoubtedly important for the greater Evanston community, staff members had their papers seized.

“The department chair from the English department came to us and started taking the stacks of papers that the kids were handing out and asked me to come to her office with her,” Executive Editor Katy Donati said. “She explained to me that the paper is going to be revoked and that there were basically higher-ups saying that we had to pull the paper and that there were issues with it.” One of three Executive Editors of “The Evanstonian,” Donati leads the paper alongside fellow seniors Michael Colton and Harrison Witt.

The controversy in question surrounded “The In-Depth,” a regular feature of “The Evanstonian” wherein several staff members extensively profile a given issue. The section, which had previously covered issues such as gender roles and student health, had turned its attention to marijuana—and the school was not happy.

In the following weeks and months, “The Evanstonian” led a fight in favor of uncensored press, speaking before the school board and even contacting attorney Stan Zoller, a member of the Illinois Journalism Education Association Hall of Fame with a background in dealing with high school papers.

“The Evanstonian” was eventually allowed to publish its spread on marijuana after making changes dictated by various ETHS higher-ups and including a disclaimer asserting, “The sale of Marijuana is a crime punishable by time in prison. The Evanstonian does not condone the production, sale or consumption of marijuana products.”