VISION:
PAM HUT TER
Committee member Pam Hutter, ’79 editor
and owner of Hutter Architects in Chicago,
leads the toast for vision — publication
alumni support for the Student Press Law
Center. Hutter inspired the idea at the first
planning meeting on Sept. 15, 2013. “With
all of this energy happening already,” she
said, “we should turn it into something great
for the nation.” Photo by Randy Swikle
LoMonte: Importance of Involvement by Staff
IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, FRANK LOMONTE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
THE STUDENT PRESS LAW CENTER, SHARES INSIGHTS HE HAS DISCOVERED
THROUGHOUT THE NATION AND AT ECHOXTRA 2015 AT CANTIGNY ON THE
MCCORMICK FOUNDATION ESTATE.
By Howard Spanogle
Why is it so important to involve
scholastic media alumni in efforts to
protect and to advance freedom of
expression for the nation?
WELCOME:
FRANK LOMONTE
Frank LoMonte, Student Press
Law Center executive director,
endorses the EchoXtra 2015
vision: publication alumni joining
together to donate to the Student
Press Law Center to advance
Freedom of the Press. Photo by
Randy Swikle
The voice that policymakers need most
to hear, and the voice that will speak
the loudest to them, is the voice of a
successful person in the community
— a lawyer, a business owner — who
can speak to the lasting educational
benefits of having studied journalism.
We are at a point of great danger and
great opportunity for scholastic media
-- great danger because journalism can
appear to be a luxury item in a cashstrapped school’s budget and great
opportunity because we’ve never been
so close to actually curing schools of
the cancerous effects of censorship.
The unanimous passage of North
Dakota’s New Voices Act this year has
ignited unprecedented excitement
throughout the nation for passing
laws protecting students’ and advisers’
rights. It has created energy and
momentum on which we can capitalize
if we act quickly and if everyone who
recognizes the value of uncensored
student journalism speaks up.
In at least 21 states, advocates have
volunteered to organize “New Voices”
chapters with the goal of enacting
stronger legal protection for student
journalism. Those movements will
succeed only if a broad base of
engaged citizens provide enthusiastic
and articulate backing. The support
must go beyond simply professional
journalism educators.