Student Media Kicked Out of Obama Campaign Event with Jack Lew

KnightNews.com sent a crew to an Obama campaign event on campus this afternoon and was forced to leave after the speaker’s handler declared the event “closed press.”

Jack Lew, the current White House Chief of Staff to the Obama Administration, was expected to speak at UCF’s Business Administration Wednesday at 4pm.

As our student crew began setting up a camera to tape the event, the Obama campaign administration asked us to leave, claiming no media or cameras were allowed at the event.

The event was being hosted by UCF Students for Israel, along with Chabad and Hillel at UCF.

We are now working to find out if it was legal for the campaign to bar any tuition and fee paying student, including student journalists, from this event.

The removal of our crew from this event could be a violation of student rights here on campus. Under Florida law, students paying tuition and fees associated with attending a University are allowed to be on the premises and at open forums, especially when hosted by student organizations.

Lew was on campus to give a campaign update and discuss President Obama’s “unwavering support of Israel,” according to the Facebook event page. This event came shortly after Obama began taking heat from the Romney campaign for not doing enough to help Israel.

Check back as we further investigate this matter.