Penn State removes its student newspaper racks over concerns about political ads

Penn State removed nearly three dozen racks containing its independent student-produced newspaper from on-campus locations this week because politics-related ads on the racks violated school policy.

The Daily Collegian reports they were not notified of the racks' removal Wednesday night and have not been told where they are being stored. However, they said they expected the racks to be returned sometime Friday without the ads.

The newspaper said there were about 35 racks overall inside various buildings on the school's campus in State College, with three running an ad for Vice President Kamala Harris and six running voter registration ads in poster space above the newspapers. The other racks did not have posters.

The newspaper said it received feedback from alumni and students about the ads, though it was not clear if the comments were supportive and/or critical. The Daily Collegian said it was notified of the university’s concerns Wednesday via an off-the-record conversation.

There was a discussion with the newspaper’s general manager, Wayne Lowman, about the ads possibly violating university rules. But the newspaper said Lowman was never notified of plans to remove the newsstands.

“I still haven’t talked to anyone from the university. I’ve made that request, to talk to whoever made the decision,” Lowman told the newspaper. “I don’t think whoever’s making these decisions has thought through the impact — what are they trying to accomplish?”

Wyatt DuBois, the school's director of University Public Relations, told The Associated Press on Friday that Penn State is not challenging the distribution of newspapers on the racks or otherwise. However, it is prohibiting the newspaper's sale of advertising space on university premises that is occurring outside of the actual publication, since that violates two university policies.

The racks were removed for only a short time to remove the advertising, DuBois said, and are in place so that the papers can be easily accessed on campus. The display of the paper version of the Daily Collegian is permitted, as the University supports free news and information sources specifically for its students, he said.

The newspaper's editor did not respond Friday to messages seeking comment about the removal of the racks.

The newspaper utilizes advertising sales as a revenue source and notes candidates from both major parties have purchased ads in previous campaigns. It said the importance of advertising revenue has become increasingly vital after receiving a 100% funding cut from the university’s general fund in 2023, beginning this school year.

FILE- In this Nov. 9, 2017, file photo people walk by Old Main on the Penn State University main campus in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Sunday fired off another warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braces for potential widespread unrest after Nicolás Maduro was deposed as Venezuela's leader.

Cuba, a major beneficiary of Venezuelan oil, has now been cut off from those shipments as U.S. forces continue to seize tankers in an effort to control the production, refining and global distribution of the country's oil products.

Trump said on social media that Cuba long lived off Venezuelan oil and money and had offered security in return, “BUT NOT ANYMORE!”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA - ZERO!” Trump said in the post as he spent the weekend at his home in southern Florida. “I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.” He did not explain what kind of deal.

The Cuban government said 32 of its military personnel were killed during the American operation last weekend that captured Maduro. The personnel from Cuba’s two main security agencies were in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, as part of an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela.

“Venezuela doesn’t need protection anymore from the thugs and extortionists who held them hostage for so many years,” Trump said Sunday. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the World (by far!), to protect them, and protect them we will.”

Trump also responded to another account’s social media post predicting that his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will be president of Cuba: “Sounds good to me!” Trump said.

Trump and top administration officials have taken an increasingly aggressive tone toward Cuba, which had been kept economically afloat by Venezuela. Long before Maduro's capture, severe blackouts were sidelining life in Cuba, where people endured long lines at gas stations and supermarkets amid the island’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Trump has said previously that the Cuban economy, battered by years of a U.S. embargo, would slide further with the ouster of Maduro.

“It’s going down,” Trump said of Cuba. “It’s going down for the count.”

A person watches the oil tanker Ocean Mariner, Monrovia, arrive to the bay in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

President Donald Trump attends a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)