Media Asked to Leave Emporia State Diversity Forum

Emporia State University excluded media from a public forum on race but later allowed reporters back into the event.

The Emporia Gazette reports that reporters on Thursday were asked to leave the forum, which the university had announced earlier in a press release.

Emporia State officials allowed reporters back into the event after discussing the issue with the university’s general counsel.

Emporia State’s Interim President Jackie Vietti said the reporters were asked to leave the event because students thought the forum would not be open to the media. She said the university would work to avoid that confusion in the future.

The Kansas Press Association says denying media access to a public meeting would be a violation of the state’s open meetings law.