Ithaca College

The Society of Professional Journalists invites you to a Virtual Speakers Bureau event — "Student Press Law Center: Rights & Protections at Protests" — on Friday, February 26 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. via Zoom. Join Mike Hiestand, a Senior Legal Counsel at the Student Press Law Center to learn more on how to stay safe and cover protests as a journalist.

Please RSVP your interest ahead of time here. 

Link to event: https://ithaca.zoom.us/j/97157821835?pwd=VmJ5eTQrU1g5SitGYkJjR1dTVFZYQT09 

Mike Hiestand has been integral to SPLC’s success since 1989. He was an SPLC intern, its first legal fellow and then served as full-time staff attorney from 1991-2003. Over the years, he has assisted about 16,000 student journalists and advisers. He currently works from the west coast on the SPLC hotline and related projects.

In 2013-14, Hiestand traveled around the country with Mary Beth Tinker, teaching and speaking out on behalf of student press rights and free expression. “Tinker Tour USA” kicked off on Constitution Day at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. The bus logged 15,595 miles across the American east coast, midwest and southeast speaking to more than 20,000 students and teachers at 58 stops, including schools, colleges, churches, a youth detention facility, courts and several national conventions.

In the spring of 2014, The Tinker Tour moved on to schools and events in the American west, midwest and southwest, as well as a stop in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Vancouver, Canada. Hiestand, who grew up in Alaska, graduated from Bartlett High School in Anchorage and went on to Marquette University’s College of Journalism and Cornell Law School.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation, please contact Emily Hung at ehung@ithaca.edu as soon as possible.