For more than a century, The Vista has served as the independent student voice of the University of Central Oklahoma community. But now, UCO administrators are blocking The Vista from publishing because its young journalists dared to criticize the university's leadership.
After The Vista published stories critical of UCO leadership, President Todd Lamb and his administration ordered the paper to stop printing, even when students offered to pay for it themselves. They confiscated the newspaper’s distribution racks, sidelined student editors, and retaliated against staff who refused to stay quiet.
Lamb even told a student editor the paper should stop covering “broken eggs” and focus on “a perfectly good omelette” instead — in other words, stop doing journalism that holds those in power accountable.
This is censorship, plain and simple. And at a public university, it’s illegal.
The First Amendment protects student journalists' right to decide what to cover and how to cover it — not administrators, public officials, or university presidents who prefer flattering headlines.
And it doesn’t bend for bad press. The First Amendment exists to protect exactly this kind of reporting.
Tell UCO President Lamb to stop silencing student journalists and start honoring UCO’s constitutional obligations.
