An Aurora Community College student is accusing the college of putting an “unconstitutional gag order” on his student-run publication, saying the college banned it from publishing until students jumped through “countless bureaucratic hoops.”

A college spokesperson said the college is just asking the student to complete the established recognition process that every student organization has to follow.

CCA student Andrew Green tried to register his independent student publication, called “FoxTalk,” as an official student organization in March.

In April, the college issued a “sweeping gag order” on him and other students at the outlet, banning them from newsgathering or publishing stories, according to a letter from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression supporting Green and FoxTalk.

According to the letter, Green met with a school representative to get permission to seek comment from CCA faculty and staff without going through the school’s communications office.

The school’s dean of student success told Green to pause the publication until a structure was developed.

Students ignored the directive, the letter said, and Green was cited by the school for failure to comply with the lawful directives of a college official.

In the letter, the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression demands that CCA drop the order on the publication and drop charges against Green.

“Preventing a student newspaper from publishing until its actions and structure satisfy administrators effectively stops speech, writing or other expression before it happens, which is a prior restraint,” the letter states.

In response, CCA spokesperson Courtney Butler said the college “strongly supports freedom of expression, freedom of the press, civic engagement and the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

“Like other public colleges, CCA also maintains established, viewpoint-neutral procedures for students seeking official recognition as a college-affiliated organization,” Butler said. “These procedures govern access to institutional resources, funding, facilities, advising and the use of the college’s name or official platforms.”

Those procedures are applied to all student organizations, Butler said.

The college has not restricted Green’s ability to “speak, report, publish or express criticism of the institution,” she said, but officials want Green and the publication to complete the established recognition process.

The full letter from the Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression to CCA is available on the foundation’s website.