UWM stifles student press under FERPA shield

Former UWM Post editor Jonathan Anderson sat down with The Badger Herald to explain the difficulties his paper faced obtaining what they believed to be public records. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee refused to release many records, such as student government meeting minutes, in their entirety. Anderson said UWM claimed the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act precluded them from releasing any records that might allow someone to discover the identities of students sitting on governing committees, for instance.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student newspaper filed suit against the university Wednesday, alleging the redaction of record materials was uncalled for under the state open records law.

On Jan. 8, then-UWM Post Editor in Chief and current UWM senior Jon Anderson filed a records request with the university for copies of agendas, meeting minutes and audio recordings from the school’s Union Policy Board meetings dating back to Aug. 1, 2008, according to the complaint.

The board governs the university’s student union, and its responsibilities including the allocation of office space to student organizations and reviewing of its budget, Anderson said.

Upon having the records request returned, Anderson said the newspaper found all of the student names and information — along with the majority of the content of the audio recordings — had been removed by the university, which maintains the board’s records, citing the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Under FERPA, schools must obtain consent from a student before releasing their educational record.

In April, an attorney with the Post submitted a letter to the university asking them to reconsider. This summer, a response from UWM upheld their earlier decision.

Current Editor in Chief and UWM senior Kevin Lessmiller said the Post holds the board does not function in an educational context, meaning it should not fall under FERPA.

Anderson said these meetings are required to be open to the public by state law, so their records should be equally accessible.

“One of the effects of this lawsuit is we are able to highlight the issues the media and the public are having in keeping schools accountable. This is happening at universities across the nation,” Anderson said.

UWM spokesperson Tom Luljak said the university thinks it has followed the open records law as expected.

“I think we have an excellent relationship with the Post, and I believe we have been extraordinarily cooperative in meeting the requirements of the law,” Luljak said. “We have tried to be as responsive as possible.”

Anderson said the Jan. 8 incident is not the first time the university has redacted portions of records. While he said these are fair in some cases, there have been more than one incidents in which the newspaper disagreed with the university’s decisions in interpreting FERPA.

Lessmiller said he does not think the lawsuit will impact the Post’s relationship with the university.

“It’s not adversarial against the university. We just disagree with their decision in regards to its request,” Lessmiller said. “It’s a good fight we’re fighting for. We’re fighting for all student journalists across the country.”

Upon receiving the newspaper’s complaint, UWM will have 45 days to respond in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

— Kyle Mianulli contributed to this report.