The staff advisor to the Orange & Black, Grand Junction High School’s student newspaper, was reassigned less than two weeks after another teacher complained about a student-penned column about the Israel-Gaza conflict.

The Grand Junction High School administration had attempted on numerous occasions to block the newspaper from publishing various content, and the column about Gaza may have been the final straw, said Steve Fox, who served as the newspaper’s advisor for five years.

“I was totally unprepared for (the reassignment),” he said.

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Fox was notified May 14, he’d no longer be advising the student newspaper — after the May 4 publication of “Why is Gaza Important — American tax dollars fund genocide,” an op-ed written by then-senior Alek Purser for the newspaper’s fourth-quarter print edition.

A Colorado Newsline public records request uncovered emails from high school social studies teacher Mark Carris sent to Fox and administration staff condemning the Gaza piece. He said the piece contained “outright racism,” “bigotry” and “Nazi propaganda​,” and suggested Purser deserved punishment and removal from the program. Carris is faculty advisor for the school’s Young Conservatives club.

Eli Schultz, the Orange & Black editor-in-chief at the time, said there was never any backlash from students, the administration or other faculty regarding the column. Marie Calkins, a previous editor, described the piece as a “researched article with cited sources.”

Purser, Schultz, Fox and incoming Orange & Black editor-in-chief Mason Strippel met with Principal Jory Sorensen in May and were told the administration found nothing wrong with the Gaza piece and did not agree with Carris’ comments toward one of its students, Purser said.

A few days later, “on the day of graduation I find out that Fox has been reassigned,” Purser said. “I don’t think that was a coincidence. I think they didn’t want Eli or Mason — the incoming editor-in-chief — to write about it.”

Free speech group considers next steps

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a national free speech nonprofit based in Philadelphia, has become involved in the case. On July 14, Marie McMullan, FIRE’s student press counsel, sent an email to Sorensen, Assistant Principal Jared Burek, and Mesa County Valley School District 51 Superintendent Brian Hill informing the administration of “Colorado’s New Voices law, which prohibits public schools from reassigning an advisor for acting to protect student expression.”

In an email to Newsline, McMullan wrote: “The district did not provide Fox with any documentation as to why he was reassigned, but student leaders at the Orange & Black sounded the alarm that it was in response to the paper’s content. That reporting led us to reach out to Fox to do public advocacy. We wrote to the district calling for it to reverse its decision and to fulfill our public records request on July 14. A representative from the district responded to our public records request that same day, and we received some records on July 15.”

It is ironic that the administration would threaten the one thing that inspired me most as a high school student — the one thing I truly thought Grand Junction High School did better than any other school.

– Alek Purser, former student journalist at Grand Junction High School

McMullan said the organization will consider its next steps after it hears back from the school district.

Schultz, who was editor-in-chief during the 2025-26 school year, said Sorensen tried to squash a news story about a discrimination lawsuit against the principal, Assistant Principal Josh Warinner, and the district, brought by former girls basketball coach Sydni Brandon.

Sorensen called Schultz to his office to dissuade him from publishing the story, Schultz said. “He said he felt disrespected and that the article would put him in a bad light.”

The newspaper staff determined it was relevant news and published the story.

Sorensen declined to be interviewed for this story.

Complaints from ‘stakeholders’

Marie Calkins, the 2024-25 Orange & Black editor-in-chief, wrote in a June column titled “Student Press freedom under threat at GJHS” in Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel newspaper, that over the past two years, the administration “has attempted to censor, review, and repress several articles and elements within the publication.”

During her tenure as editor-in-chief, Calkins said the administration tried to stop the publication of a cover photo of a large group of football fans because it contained an image of a student wearing a T-shirt with the words “I Hate Milfs.” Calkins and Schultz both described the photo as overall positive, and showing school pride.

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Sorensen had asked for prior review and engaged in restraint regarding the photo — which is when a school official tells a publication not to publish something and acts against them doing so, Calkins wrote. The administration backed down after students said that would be a violation of the First Amendment and that state law guarantees students’ freedom of the press.

Fox continues to advise the school’s yearbook staff and teach journalism classes. He also advises Colorado Mesa University’s student newspaper, The Criterion. Calkins is studying mass communications at CMU and writes for The Criterion. She expressed concern that Fox’s replacement lacks journalism experience and did not apply or interview for the newspaper advisor position at the school.

During Fox’s five-year tenure advising the Orange & Black, the newspaper has won multiple statewide awards from the Colorado Student Media Association. For the 2024-25 school year the staff won 19 awards for writing, design, photography and podcasting. The newspaper also garnered state awards in 2023 and 2022, and a special national award in 2021 for its coverage of the aging high school building.

“The Orange & Black has been a newspaper for more than 100 years,” Schultz said. “It has a big legacy. It’s sad to see what’s happening currently.”

Colorado Newsline contacted Assistant Principal Heather O’Brien and Carris, the teacher who made the complaint, but they both declined to be interviewed for this story.

Caught off guard

Other articles considered controversial by the administration have included stories critical of AP classes, and the Tiger Portfolio — a graduation requirement where students must create a web site, said Fox.

“It’s hard for me to tell you what triggered (the reassignment). I have not been told,” Fox said.

“Complaints from various stakeholders” – a term that FIRE calls “vague” — was the only reason given for his reassignment, Fox said. “It’s tough to swallow, for sure. I’m not sure what it means. I’m not sure of the complaints and where they’re from.”

While Fox said he is preparing to return to Grand Junction High School to teach the English classes, he would prefer to resume his role as newspaper advisor.

Purser said he is pursuing a career in journalism because of his experience writing for the school newspaper under Fox’s leadership. He plans to study journalism and political science at DePaul University in Chicago this fall.

Purser said Carris’ response to his opinion piece caught him off guard. For his final piece before graduation he said he wanted to write about an important topic to raise awareness of the issue and urge students to exercise their right to vote.

“It is ironic that the administration would threaten the one thing that inspired me most as a high school student — the one thing I truly thought Grand Junction High School did better than any other school,” he said in an email. “I hope they choose to protect the best thing they had rather than to destroy it”

Calkins also expressed concern about how Fox’s ouster will affect the newspaper.

“I think the reassignment of Mr. Fox without any kind of process seems suspicious,” she said. “It’s become just a club. It is no longer a place for education of journalism. I wouldn’t be going into journalism if not for (Fox) and the program he created.”