The FERPA gopher poked its head up again recently on a college campus when a university administrator tried to make the argument that photos taken by a student journalist of an injured soccer player on the sidelines of a game would violate FERPA. The simple answer is that this is not a FERPA violation.
James Tidwell at Eastern Illinois frequently posts this clarification about FERPA. In case you’ve lost it in your e-mail files, here it is again, with his permission:
This issues comes up at least once a year on the listserv and has come up a million times in the gazillion law sessions I’ve done at CMA conventions. The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (aka-Buckley Amendment) applies to “colleges and universities” releasing information. Certainly at public schools, the courts have made it clear that would student editors make decisions, they are not “government actors.” Thus, for FERPA purposes information released by a student media organization is not information released by the university. The same argument can be made for private schools that give student media the authority to make content decisions. In addition, the Department of Education in the past has made it clear it will not try to enforce FERPA when student media release information. Remember, individuals do not have the right to sue under FERPA. The sole method of enforcement of the law is for the DOE to withdraw federal funds from the school.
