School Stops Presses

On Tuesday, March 15 we and a group of other students of East Lansing High School distributed a student-created and privately funded periodical in the halls of our high school between classes. The publication was a conservative opinion paper. It was respectful and expressed well-informed and open-minded opinions from moderates, libertarians, and conservatives. There was nothing disruptive or offensive about the papers – except the fact that they expounded ideas contrary to those of the majority of students at East Lansing High School and, apparently, the administration.

We merely stood in the hallway and offered papers to passers-by in a friendly exchange. We did not force newspapers on anybody. A teacher
demanded that we stop distributing our papers and go through the proper bureaucratic procedures for getting printed material approved for school distribution. We fully complied. We submitted our newspapers to the school administration. We were told by superintendent Dr. Dave Chapin that the school would not allow us to distribute our publication.

We are trying to elicit support, not for conservative ideals or the promulgation of conservative doctrine, but rather for compliance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which East Lansing Public Schools, as a public and government-run entity, is subject to by law. We would appreciate your support, as patriots and supporters of the American ideal of freedom of speech, in whatever manner you deem necessary and proper.

East Lansing High School’s phone number is 517-333-7500. The principal can be emailed at steele_pb@elps.k12.mi.us.

Tyler Whitney and Matthew Messerschmidt are students at East Lansing (MI) High School.