WWU alumni use PRA win to support investigative reporting
June 2, 2025 — After settling a records access lawsuit against Western Washington University last year, three alumni have used the funds to establish a permanent endowment for student investigative journalism at the university.
Then-WWU journalism students Asia Fields and Erasmus Baxter accept a Key Award from Toby Nixon, WashCOG president, in 2018.
The donation of $42,000 last week by Erasmus Baxter, Asia Fields and Julia Furukawa means the fund will initially provide about $1,600 a year to support students pursuing investigative journalism projects or training.
“We know it can feel like an uphill battle to hold institutions accountable,” the alumni said in the gift agreement. “We also believe that student journalists are doing some of the most important accountability journalism about their campuses and communities. We want to help equip them with the resources needed to do this work.”
As students, the three reported on sexual misconduct at Western, including how the university readmitted students following sexual assault findings or convictions. They sought the names of students found responsible for misconduct as a way to understand how widespread this practice was and if sanctions were being applied equally.
The lawsuit began in 2019, when Baxter and Furukawa were still journalism students, and alleged that the university had violated Washington state’s Public Records Act by withholding the names of students found responsible for sexual misconduct or violent offenses.
Julia Furukawa, who joined the reporting project and lawsuit in 2019.
A Whatcom County judge agreed. After a state appeals court struck down an effort by some of the students to prevent their names from being released, the judge penalized Western $111,780. A settlement followed last fall. In his ruling, Judge David Freeman recognized the importance of student journalism on this topic to the campus community. “It goes to the heart of free press and the importance of journalism on very important topics,” he said.
Bill Crittenden
The Washington Coalition for Open Government recognized Fields and Baxter for their initial reporting with a Key Award in 2018. At the Madison-Anderson-Bunting event when the Key Award was presented, the two then-students met WashCOG board member Bill Crittenden, who represented them in the five-year case.
The Coalition recently gave a related Key Award to the three plaintiffs and Crittenden, for following through on their pursuit of records. Baxter and Fields also shared their experience at an Open Government Town Hall at Western in 2022.
“This lawsuit was never about the money,” Baxter said. “It was about forcing Western to follow the law. We hope this settlement and endowment will provide an example and resources for future students so that they can hold powerful institutions accountable — even if the institution is their own university.”
Additional donations will increase the amount available to students each year. Anyone who is interested in supporting student investigative journalism at Western can contribute to this new fund through The Foundation for WWU & Alumni. Please specify that the gift is for the “Student Investigative Journalism Fund.”
The donation to Western represents the full amount that the alumni retained after attorney’s fees and taxes. They also expressed appreciation for the support of the Student Press Law Center, Western faculty members, WashCOG and attorney Crittenden. They were also inspired by students at The Daily Tar Heel in North Carolina who took their university to court for similar records.
