First they shut down the student newspaper. Now they’re banning the news.
After The Mercury, the official student newspaper at University of Texas at Dallas, published unflattering coverage of the university’s response to pro-Palestinian encampments in 2024, administrators retaliated: They demoted the paper’s advisor, pulled issues from campus racks, and ousted its editor-in-chief without due process. The Mercury staff went on strike — and UT Dallas still hasn’t paid them for the work they did before walking out.
But these student journalists didn’t back down. They founded a new, independent paper: The Retrograde. It receives no school funding — just the grassroots support of a campus that still believes in a free press.
Now, UT Dallas is trying to shut them down too.
In August 2025, administrators banned all 43 newspaper racks across campus — a transparent attempt to block distribution of The Retrograde after it began publishing critical stories. In response, Retrograde staffers teamed up with student performers and launched a full-on “Newsies” protest, handing out newspapers in costume and calling out the censorship in public.
After facing public pressure, UT Dallas walked back the ban — but only barely. The school is allowing just four distribution points, down from the original 43. That’s not a real reversal. That’s censorship wrapped in red tape.
This is a public university. It has a constitutional obligation to protect the free press — not punish it.
Email Vice President for Student Affairs Gene Fitch today. Demand that UT Dallas: (1) compensate The Mercury’s student staff for work they performed prior to the strike, (2) recognize The Retrograde as a student organization, and (3) pledge to protect the rights of independent student journalists and stop suppressing The Retrograde.
UT Dallas can’t silence student journalists — not legally, not ethically, and not without a fight.
