Cleveland State University students, show hosts and others associated with former college radio station WCSB have filed a civil lawsuit against CSU in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court seeking to overturn an agreement transferring the operations of the radio station to Ideastream Public Media.
The suit alleges the university, its board of trustees and President Laura Bloomberg violated the First Amendment rights of students and hosts when it enacted the "flash cut" (a sudden switch in programming) to transfer operating decisions to Ideastream in early October 2025. The Program Service and Operating Agreement signed by the two entities spells out that CSU would retain the Federal Communications Commission license for the station while Ideastream Public Media would provide programming with its JazzNEO music streaming service.
The suit alleges the university worked in secret to develop a plan to silence student voices, including the board meeting in executive session to discuss the deal in violation of Ohio's open meetings law. In the months leading up to the PSOA, students complained about being unable to access WCSB funds and issues with student scholarships, the suit adds.
"Over time, Defendant Bloomberg and the University grew weary of the independent voices at WCSB, their nonconformist attitudes, their complaints about university operations, and their protests against University policy," the suit reads.
In addition to overturning the operating agreement between CSU and Ideastream, the suit seeks the release of public records withheld by the university, student access to the WCSB studio space, the return of personal property in the studio and unspecified damages.
"To this day, the University continues to wrongly exercise control over WCSB members’ property in the studio, including: furniture, tools, supplies, and equipment they had purchased themselves and brought in to help with their work; personal collections of music to play on the air, including an irreplaceable and culturally significant collection of thousands of Hungarian records that made possible WCSB’s beloved 'Hungarian Hour;' food; clothing; and vintage comic books, posters and other media," the suit adds.
CSU's marketing and communications office said in an email Monday that the university has not yet been served with the complaint.
"Once we receive it, we will review and respond appropriately consistent with applicable law," the email read. "We do not comment on pending litigation."
In an emailed statement Monday shared by chief development and marketing officer Yvette Cook Darby, Ideastream said "We’re aware of recent media reporting regarding a possible legal matter involving Cleveland State University and WCSB. Ideastream is not a named party in the reporting, and therefore, we have no comment."
The lawsuit was filed by Cleveland attorney Brian Bardwell on behalf of WCSB, the Friends of XCSB nonprofit, and former WCSB General Manager Alison Bomgardner. Bardwell said Monday the suit could be expanded to include Ideastream.
Editor's note: Ideastream's executive management did not have any editorial input into, and did not review, this story.
