Open AccessMeaning in the Use of Freedom: The <em>Free Press Underground</em>, the University of Missouri, and Students for a Democratic Society
Author(s) -
Chris Drew
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of intellectual freedom and privacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2474-7459
DOI - 10.5860/jifp.v5i1.7314
Subject(s) - supreme court , meaning (existential) , newspaper , freedom of the press , context (archaeology) , first amendment , law , democracy , free press , free speech , power (physics) , sociology , academic freedom , media studies , political science , politics , history , law and economics , higher education , philosophy , epistemology , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics
The Free Press Underground was an independent newspaper edited and published by University of Missouri students in the 1960’s. Four students were arrested for distributing a February,1969 edition of the paper. One of those students was ultimately expelled. Her name was Barbara Papish. She and the ACLU took the MU’s Board of Curators to court, and ultimately made it to the Supreme Court in 1973. Papish’s expulsion was ruled unconstitutional. A deeper analysis of the historical context surrounding this incident will reveal the ongoing power struggle and antagonism shared between the University and the student publishers, and draw lessons for contextualizing free speech incidents. This will be shown as necessary for seeing the underlying purpose, intent, and meaning buried beneath the oft over simplified struggle for public opinion surrounding morality and freedom, as exemplified by this incident.