A Community College of Aurora student who accused the college of putting an “unconstitutional gag order” on his student-run publication was cleared of disciplinary charges against him.

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.

Green claimed the college banned FoxTalk from publishing until students jumped through “countless bureaucratic hoops.”

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

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.

The Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression demanded that CCA drop the order on the publication and drop charges against Green.

In a letter to Green this week, the college stated that he was found not responsible for violations of the Student Code of Conduct.

It cites a “lack of clarity provided on the operational processes required for Fox Talk Interest Group” as reasoning.

“We’re thrilled that Andrew and FoxTalk were correctly found not responsible for the crime of committing journalism,” according to a statement from FIRE Legal Network. “The restrictions CCA placed on its student journalists clearly constituted a prior restraint of the press that violated the First Amendment.”