Pitt officials demand College Fix journalist delete audio recordings from public ‘trans’ event

OPINION/ANALYSIS

I found out the hard way that the University of Pittsburgh’s “Trans Day of Vibing” event was not actually for “ALL students, faculty, and staff, regardless of identity or background,” despite its marketing.

The Office of Inclusion told me to delete the audio recordings of interviews that I lawfully conducted with consenting participants at the public event at the public university.

Prior to the event, I received approval from the program director to interview willing participants and provided my university email upon request. While attending, like any other guest, I stopped at a table displaying rainbow stickers where an individual who used “they/them” pronouns was representing a campus LGBTQIA support group. I introduced myself as a reporter and obtained consent to record a brief interview about the organization.

Afterwards, the program director approached me again, probing about The College Fix. I showed her my author page as credentialed proof. 

As I was leaving, both the program director and the individual I had interviewed tried to retract their consent for me to record interviews and insisted I delete the recording. They asked me to prove the recording was deleted from both my phone and the “recently deleted” folder, and I complied. 

Before the event concluded, the program director followed up by email, copying the executive director of the Office of Inclusion and Belonging.

She wrote, “Hi Julia! After speaking with participants at the TDOV event, I found that people were uncomfortable with their interviews being used for an article that’s going to be submitted to College Fix. I would appreciate if you could kindly delete all of the recordings from today’s event.” 

No further explanation was offered—though none seemed necessary.

I then consulted a free speech expert who raised concerns about the protection of my rights as a student journalist.

Dominic Coletti, a spokesperson for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told me over the phone, “There’s no doubt that the message is chilling.”

“It suggests to the student press, particularly coming from a university official as it did, that writing something with which the university disagrees may result in being asked or told to take it down. It’s not something a public university should even be toying with,” he said. 

Coletti added that student journalists may feel more inclined to delete recordings they are legally permitted to use when the request comes from a university official.

But given the advertisement and nature of the event, there was no reasonable expectation of privacy for the event. 

“The fact that the university is instructing its own employees not to interview about this issue raises serious concerns. Even more troubling is their attempt to enforce this questionable policy by requiring that a student journalist delete recordings that were lawfully obtained—this strikes me as a particularly harmful and blatant violation of First Amendment rights,” he said. 

The event and its participants touted themselves as “open to all.”

“The Office of Inclusion and Belonging is committed to fostering an environment where everyone feels welcome,” an advertisement for the event on Pitt Student Affairs’ Instagram reads. 

Trans YOU Niting PGH, in partnership with Proud Haven PGH, was among the organizations represented. The group aims to provide “affirming and accessible resources for Black transgender women and other transgender individuals” and “safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth,” according to its website. 

At the event, spokesperson Casey Givner told me the group houses homeless LGBTQ members for 30 days, “and sometimes longer if [they’re] actively working toward self-sufficiency.” 

“We also have a community closet, which is like a free thrift store. About a month and a half ago, we started a community pantry, where people can get a hot meal and other items like protein bars, canned goods, and pantry staples,” Givner said. 

He added that this is a global need and that there aren’t many safe spaces for these individuals. 

Phoebe Clouser, a senior at Pitt, told me about her experience at the event and expressed her “love for the gays.”

“I was just so pleasantly surprised that there’s, like, over 10 tables of people that really care about what they’re doing and want to support it,” she said. 

She expressed the need for emotional support within the community, saying, “It’s important now to actually stand up and come together as one and not let anything going on deter this event from happening, because this is really life-saving.”

Katelyn Cawley of UPMC staffed a table with information about cancer screenings for individuals who have undergone “gender-affirming” procedures.

“When somebody has a gender affirming surgery from, say, male to female, they may or may not have a prostate after that surgery. So that’s something they need to talk with their daughters about, make sure they know. Do I still have a sternum, or don’t I? Do I need to get prostate cancer screenings, or don’t I? It’s the same for top surgery,” she told me during an interview. 

She noted that most conversations at the table have been about HPV prevention and anxiety. 

I also received a pamphlet from The Autonomous Body Shop, a mobile outreach group providing supplies and information related to bodily autonomy and community care. 

The pamphlet called for the abolition of police, stating “police are not your friends.”

Its supply list prioritizes items such as emergency contraception, birth control, fentanyl test strips, and condoms, with less emphasis on postpartum care items like diapers. The pamphlet also encourages abortion for those who are pregnant and do not wish to be, without mentioning alternatives such as adoption.

This experience revealed a troubling gap between the event’s advertised promise of inclusivity and the reality of who was truly welcomed. University events that promote inclusion for all must do better to meet this standard.

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