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First Amendment Symposium an 'awesome,' 'stately' event The IHSPA advocacy team introduced the idea to host a First Amendment Symposium in the spring of 2006. The IHSPA board supported the idea and expanded the vision, but IHSPA had never hosted anything quite like it; so board members used the summer to talk to other advisers and students and consider the feedback they received. The original idea was beginning to expand when IHSPA advocacy team members met with representatives from the Ball State J-Ideas staff, I.U. School of Journalism and the Indianapolis Star in August to discuss a variety of scholastic journalism issues. Although the symposium was still short on details, enthusiasm from the meeting propelled it to the next level, and more specific planning began. Board members started brainstorming for ideas for the program, and discovered that it didn’t take long to list more ideas than a three-hour event could accommodate. The plan began to evolve into a program with four manageable segments based on the IHSPA four core values: Truth, Courage, Integrity and Freedom. One segment would include a couple of 20-30 minute presentations about the Knight First Amendment study and current First Amendment issues. Other segments would recognize the winners of a First Amendment essay contest. College students who had been editors of high school publications would open each segment with thoughts about their experiences as high school journalists, and a panel of students, advisers, and administrators would discuss First Amendment issues. And where should such an event take place? The Indiana State House seemed ideal, no one thought it would be a possibilitiy. Discovering that it was not only available, but free (as long as we didn’t conduct a wedding) added a new “stately” dimension. Even before the hustle and bustle of the legislative sessions began, a walk through the north atrium and rotunda provided the feeling that if everything came together, the symposium had the potential to be awesome. Throughout the planning one big idea seemed to lead to another. It didn’t take long to figure that the perfect touch to an event about the First Amendment at the seat of government would be a welcome from the governor. Inquiries with the governor’s staff didn’t generate instant acceptance, but we were on a list; and we kept the possibility and communication lines open. Although we wanted the symposium to be a bonus event with no registration fee, the generous approach made it difficult to estimate how many people would attend. Adviser members said it sounded like a good thing to do, but few made a commitment to come and bring students. Attendance for conventions had decreased over the years, so the uncertainty factor was high.We mailed promotional materials, sent group and personal e-mails, and made telephone calls. As our enthusiasm for the program increased, we expanded the target audience beyond high school students, publications advisers, administrators, parents, professional media, and legislators to all First Amendment stakeholders. We emphasized the program’s specific goals: information, celebration, and inspiration. This was an excellent opportunity to emphasize the great things about scholastic journalism in Indiana while describing challenges to those programs and the First Amendment in general. In addition to specific First Amendment issues, those who attended would receive current information from a consultant from the Indiana Department of Education about the process for adoption of state journalism standards and the role the standards play in the curriculum. Thus, the link between the future of First Amendment, journalism programs and education in general would be described and emphasized. Celebration would come in the form of awards presented to high school students who wrote essays about the First Amendment. Students were asked to use the National Public Radio “This I Believe” format and relate the First Amendment to their personal experiences. In addition to certificates for first, second, and third places, J-Ideas and Indiana newspapers would provide $100 awards to each of four students who placed first in the IHSPA Core Value categories. Four college students who had been high school publications editors (two former Indiana journalists of the year) accepted invitations to provide inspiration with speeches using the core values as springboards for their messages. The program was also going to give student journalists and advisers the perfect place to honor Louis Ingelhart, a champion of First Amendment rights for students throughout his life. In less than a year from the idea’s inception the program was approaching reality. The cookie and punch orders were in, speakers were scheduled, and the program had been sent to the printer. Things were looking good…and then the e-mail from the governor’s office arrived. The governor had accepted the invitation to welcome the group. Only optimists plan programs that have no guarantee that anyone will attend. And even optimists don’t count on the governor’s attendance. But At 3:55 p.m. on March 6, a group of nearly 300 people that included students, advisers, administrators, legislators, and parents sat in the north atrium of Indiana’s State House and watched Governor Mitch Daniels walk from his office and through the rotunda to talk to them. All eyes were glued to the state’s leader as he moved past a welcome to speak eloquently for nearly 10 minutes about the importance of the First Amendment. That was the beginning of the feeling that an idea that seemed to have the potential to be an “awesome event” a few months ago had become an AWESOME EVENT. And the results? Legislators aren’t standing in line to sponsor a student press bill, and journalism standards continue the slow process toward adoption after three years; but many things made the symposium worth the investment of time and expense. Local newspapers wrote stories about the essay winners from their areas and some printed the essays. Several legislators and reporters attended the symposium. College and high school educators had the opportunity to see how effectively they work together. Bonds were made, and people started talking about “next year’s symposium” before they left the first one. It was interesting to hear people choose highlights. Some said Governor Daniels’ attendance; many enjoyed the students’ speeches, some said the panel; and others were moved by the State House itself. A glance at the essays and the speeches reflects the reason all of the highlights combined to create a special event. Nicole Hong, an essay winner from Munster High School, described herself as “the girl without a hometown.” Her family had moved from an island off the coast of Shanghai to Maryland, Georgia, and Pennsylvania before settling in Munster, Indiana. She looking for her niche when she joined the newspaper. Her parents approved. They would have enjoyed being journalists in China except that it was “just another channel for communist propaganda.” Despite the challenge of changing locations, Hong pondered what her life would have been like if she had not moved to America, and she he concluded, “I would have never seen the Liberty Bell or tasted the mouthwatering milkshakes at Steak ‘N Shake or held the power I have today as an editor on the school newspaper.” Like Nicole Hong, each symposium speaker and writer had the “power” to express an appreciation for the First Amendment that illustrated why a high school curriculum should include journalism programs. The State House provided the backdrop for the celebration, but the students’ words provided the information and inspiration that provided the magic of the evening. All of the essays and speeches are available on the IHSPA website at: http://psj.franklincollege.edu/ihspa
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