Grand Junction High School: Orange & Black Adviser Reassigned After Controversial Coverage

On May 14, 2026, high school administrators in Grand Junction, Colorado reassigned student newspaper adviser Steve Fox to a new role without a formal explanation, citing in a meeting “complaints about the publication from a lot of stakeholders.” Student journalists raised concerns that the reassignment was based on an opinion piece on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, coverage of a lawsuit against the school, and a publication cover depicting a student’s shirt reading “I Hate Milfs”— reasons that would  violate Colorado’s New Voices law. FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative sent an open records request to the district on June 22. On July 14, SPFI wrote the school district, calling for the school to reverse the reassignment and respond to our open records request.