Indiana State University group to honor Jamal Khashoggi

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A journalism group at Indiana State University is taking steps to honor alumnus and slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The university’s chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hopes to dedicate a meeting space to Khashoggi, who was also recently named one of Time’s Persons of the Year, The Tribune-Star reported. Khashoggi attended the university from 1977 to 1982 and received a degree in business administration.

Graduate student Andrew Hile, the university’s SPJ president, said the space will serve as a reminder that students should act with “courage, commitment and integrity.”

The student group is working with the university to obtain the necessary approvals for the project.

The group also plans to raise money for the Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit that promotes the rights of journalists.

“Khashoggi was a beacon for freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the Middle East and he remains a great example to all journalists because he is the embodiment of what journalism is all about,” the SPJ chapter said in a news release. “A journalist’s job isn’t to please everyone; their job is to share the truth, and Khashoggi exemplified what it means to be a ‘Guardian of Truth.’”

Khashoggi was killed two months ago when The Washington Post columnist visited Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Turkey for paperwork so he could get married. He had been critical of the Saudi regime.

U.S. Senators are considering multiple pieces of legislation to formally rebuke Saudi Arabia for the slaying, with momentum building for a resolution to call Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman complicit in the killing.