Former Indiana University Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against IU, which alleged violations of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
In court documents, Rodenbush’s lawyers said the Eleventh Amendment makes it unclear whether a federal court has the authority to hear the case as it was filed. Because the Trustees had not yet responded, Rodenbush was allowed to dismiss the lawsuit voluntarily and may refile in the future if he adjusts it to address jurisdictional concerns.
“The court has asked us to go to Monroe County, and that's what we're doing,” attorney Jon Little said. “There's nothing substantively that has changed.”
“Nothing has changed on my end,” Rodenbush said in a text to WFIU/WTIU News. “The suit will absolutely be refiled.”
The former professor sued the IU Board of Trustees as a whole, not individual members. Because the Board is a state agency, the Eleventh Amendment generally protects it from being sued in federal court without the state’s consent, which Indiana has not granted. While some exceptions exist, Rodenbush’s lawyers said none applied.
According to his LinkedIn, Rodenbush was recently hired as an associate professor of journalism at Western Kentucky University.
Rodenbush filed the lawsuit in October 2025 after he was fired from his position at the Indiana University Media School. His dismissal sparked debate over whether the university engaged in censorship.
A letter from Media School Dean David Tolchinsky cited a “lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the University’s direction for the Student Media Plan” as the reason for the firing. However, staff at the Indiana Daily Student alleged Rodenbush was terminated because he “refused to censor the IDS.”
Rodenbush’s attorney argued the firing was tied to an article published on the cover of the October 2025 IDS issue.
“It's content based speech restriction,” Little said. “IU did not like the content of that particular issue, and they need to explain why that was.”
Little said that if refiled and allowed to proceed, the case could take years to resolve
“This is one fight in many for the soul of Indiana,” Little said. “Are we going to have a real university?”