Support for this edition comes from Purdue for Life Foundation. Don’t miss an evening unlike any other in Purdue history: an epic pep rally followed by an exclusive game-watch party for the Purdue men’s basketball away exhibition game against Kentucky. It’s all happening Oct. 24 at Mackey Arena. Claim your spot at https://www.purdue.edu/campaign/rsvp/.
This and that heading into the week …
THE EXPONENT ENTERS THE CHAT ON IU VS. THE INDIANA DAILY STUDENT: Students and the publisher at The Purdue Exponent late last week stepped into what’s been a wild time for the Indiana Daily Student. IU’s campus newspaper saw its adviser fired for not toeing the university line and the administration pulling the plug on print editions coming out of the J-school publication.
The Exponent, after offering to publish Homecoming editions of the IDS that had been scuttled by IU administrators, wound up producing 3,000 copies of an edition that included columns from editors of both papers defending student press freedoms, commentaries from IDS alums working in the business and rallying for financial support. The editions from the independent Exponent staff landed in Indiana Daily Student boxes on the Bloomington campus Friday afternoon.
Here’s more from Bloomington Herald-Times reporter Brian Rosenzweig: “Purdue student journalists deliver special ‘solidarity’ newspaper to IU Bloomington campus.”
If you’re catching up, here’s more on how things played out last week in an IDS controversy that made national headlines. (With cameos by David Reingold, former dean of Purdue’s College of Liberal Arts and now chancellor at IU’s Bloomington campus.)
From Indianapolis Star reporter Cate Charron and the Herald-Times’ Brian Rosenzweig: “Indiana University has ordered the Indiana Daily Student to end all print publication less than 24 hours after the administration fired an adviser for the student newspaper. ‘The Media School thinks they can violate the First Amendment if it’s under a business decision,’ said Mia Hilkowitz, co-editor-in-chief of the IDS. ‘That’s a really, really dangerous thought process for administrators to have. The fact that they’re trying to frame clear censorship as business is so disrespectful to every party involved.’ In recent weeks, university leadership, the student media director and editors at the Indiana Daily Student have fought over what content gets printed in the student newspaper, with administrators insisting that ‘special editions’ were not to include any news content. The IDS content still publishes news on its website. The situation escalated Tuesday when IU fired Jim Rodenbush, director of student media, as he pushed back against a directive to remove news content from the print edition.” For more: “Indiana University orders student paper to stop printing. Editors say it’s censorship.”
From WFIU reporter Ethan Sandweiss: “An emailed statement sent on behalf of Chancellor David Reingold said ending the print paper was a purely financial decision. ‘To be clear, the campus’ decision concerns the medium of distribution, not editorial content,’ it said. Journalism professors disagree. WFIU/WTIU News asked Interim Director of Journalism Suzannah Evans Comfort whether IU’s mandate was in line with media ethics. ‘Of course not,’ Comfort said. ‘You can’t have journalism without editorial independence, and I think that our leadership here knows that. I’m not suspicious that they are censoring a specific news article or a specific subject. They know that’s a bright line.’” For more: “IU fires adviser of student media, stops printing Daily Student.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, known as FIRE, which already had dinged IU for its commitment to free speech on campus, added this: “Truth be told, FIRE isn’t surprised by IU’s move. Firing Rodenbush cements the university’s place in the bottom three of FIRE’s 2026 College Free Speech Rankings.”
ONE MORE SCENE FROM SATURDAY’S ‘NO KINGS’ EVENTS: Heath Crawford, a West Lafayette Police Department K9 officer, sat in with Frank Muffin for a rendition of “Fortunate Son” during a community fair portion of Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration at Tapawingo Park.
West Lafayette Police Chief Adam Ferguson post part of the performance on the department’s Facebook page, noting on social media: “If only every Saturday at work went this well … \m/ \m/ \m/”
Brittany Rees, bass player with Frank Muffin, said the band played the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit earlier in the day, as the marchers in Saturday’s demonstration filtered back to the park after circling the Tippecanoe County Courthouse before crossing back over the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge. The band’s set included a protest theme: “Uprising,” by Muse; a Flogging Molly-styled version of “The Times They Are a-Changin’;” “Volunteers,” by Jefferson Airplane; the Ramones’ “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg;” their own “Ain’t Hit Bottom Yet.”
“Then a WLPD officer wanted to jump in on drums with us, so in rare form we did a reprise of ‘Fortunate Son’ since that is a song he knew and a lot of the crowd wasn’t fully assembled when we played it the first time,” Rees said.
Here’s a taste:
ICYMI, here’s BiL coverage of Saturday’s “No Kings” march:
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, the target of more than 2,000 No Kings marches across the U.S., fired back. This is from a New York Times account: “President Trump has posted what appeared to be an A.I.-generated video on social media that showed him wearing a crown and flying a jet labeled ‘King Trump’ that dumps brown liquid on protesters. … The fake video, set to the song ‘Danger Zone’ by Kenny Loggins, shows the plane dropping a brown liquid resembling feces onto the heads of protesters, who appeared to be gathered in a city.”
TRUMP MAKES A PERSONAL CALL TO INDIANA SENATORS TO PUSH FOR REDISTRICTING: The New York Times’ Tyler Pager and Nick Corasaniti reported that President Trump is ratcheted up the pressure: “President Trump called Republicans in the Indiana Senate on Friday morning to encourage them to redraw the state’s congressional maps to benefit Republicans ahead of the midterm elections, according to three people familiar with the call. Mr. Trump asked the state lawmakers to support a new map that would eliminate the state’s two Democratic districts and give Republicans all nine congressional seats, the people said.” For the rest: “Trump Pushes Indiana Lawmakers to Redraw State Maps. A call Friday morning by the president to Republican state senators is part of an escalating pressure campaign by the White House.” Indianapolis Star reporter Hayleigh Colombo confirmed the report with more local context here: “President Trump calls Indiana lawmakers amid growing redistricting pressure.”
FOUR ADDED TO LAFAYETTE JEFF HALL OF FAME: Lafayette Jefferson High School honored four graduates Friday, adding them as this year’s class to the school’s Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony in the Rohrman Center for the Performing Arts.
They were:
Kelsey Cornell, class of 2010. Cornell is director of brand partnership solutions for Fremantle US, which produces such shows as “America’s Got Talent,” “American Idol,” “The Price is Right” and “Family Feud.” Her career also has included time as a senior producer for “America’s Got Talent” and work on a number of hit television series, including “American Idol,” “America’s Next Top Model.”
Dan Moore, class of 1995. Moore is judge of Tippecanoe Superior Court 7 and recently appointed judge of the state’s 11th commercial court.
Barry Richard, class of 1978. Richard, a retired Lafayette police officer and former Tippecanoe County sheriff, is executive director of the Lyn Treece Boys and Girls Club in Lafayette. He also holds an elected seat on the Tippecanoe County Council.
Perry Wilkins, class of 1955. After three decades served in the U.S. Navy, Wilkins worked for Piedmont Airlines as a commercial pilot. He worked in defense contracting, eventually starting Wilkins Aviation, an aerial mapping company that developed several unique mapping techniques/systems.
Lafayette Jeff selects Alumni Hall of Fame candidates based on special achievements, honors, community service, responsibility, leadership, contributions to society and national and/or world service.
“Each of these distinguished honorees credits getting their start to the experiences they had here at Jefferson High School,” Principal Mark Preston said in a release.
EXTENDED LEASE FOR ALMOST HOME HUMANE SOCIETY: After the 2024 opening of Greater Lafayette’s new $7.5 million animal shelter on Sagamore Parkway South, along with the creation of the new Humane Society for Greater Lafayette, the Almost Home Humane Society continues in a city-owned facility on South Second Street in Lafayette. Last week, the city’s board of works approved a five-year extension to Almost Home’s lease on the shelter facility and the grounds at 1705 S. Second St. The new terms run through April 3, 2031, continuing at $1 a year. The new lease, though, will leave Almost Home responsible for all maintenance, repairs and replacements for the property during the lease term, according to the contact approved by the city. The agreement also calls on Almost Home to let the city know if it no longer needs any of the outbuildings on the property, in which case the city would take those back for other uses.
Here’s a look at Almost Home in a BiL Q&A from 2024, shortly after the city shifted its official animal shelter to the new Humane Society for Greater Lafayette:
AND FINALLY … A POP-UP DEAL: Three times this week someone mentioned that they’d missed information about stories, key votes and events that had appeared in Based in Lafayette editions days earlier. I did my best, there on the street, to catch them up on what was going on. But in each case, they said they’d been meaning to subscribe. I told them they’d missed a fall sale a few weeks ago but that I’d give them another chance.
Here it is … for them and for any new subscriber, if you’d like it.
Sunday and Monday, Oct. 19-20, let’s reprise the 20% off deal from September. The pop-up pricing covers the first year of full-access BiL editions.
Get it here …
Thanks for reading. I’ll keep doing my best to make BiL worth your time.
Support for this edition comes from Purdue for Life Foundation, presenting a pep rally followed by an exclusive game-watch party for the Purdue men’s basketball away exhibition game against Kentucky. It’s all happening Oct. 24 at Mackey Arena. Claim your spot at https://www.purdue.edu/campaign/rsvp/.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
The reasons for the No Kings protests, redistricting, and the upset over the treatment of student journalism are worthy topics/conversations for mature, calm people to engage. They are all of a piece, though they appear to be independent issues. It's possible to flip a combat zone into a solution zone. I know that sounds like a motivational poster.
David Reingold is a small man, figuratively and literally. He left a trail of destruction at Purdue and apparently is the hatchet man for the IU administration as well.