The head of the Australian National University has expressed his disappointment that a highly-awarded law student was stopped from speaking out on Australia's refugee policy by a member of the school's marketing team.
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Odette Shenfield received the University Medal, the Tillyard Prize and three awards from the ANU College of Law, including the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department and Australian Government Solicitor Prize.
The College of Law's marketing team contacted the 24-year-old requesting to write a profile piece for an awards ceremony booklet.
But when Ms Shenfield insisted on including comment on Australia's "inhumane" refugee policy - a topic taught during her degree - she was told marketing was "politically neutral" and that "the Commonwealth government is the donor for one of your prizes ... part of our job within the college is to maintain donor relationships".
She was ultimately wiped from the marketing booklet.
The ANU College of Law on Wednesday admitted it had "made a poor call" in refusing to publish Ms Shenfield's comments.
"We've learned from it," the college posted on its Twitter account.
"We encourage students to speak out on issues they feel are important."
Vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt also took to Twitter on the topic.
"ANU prides itself on the principle of academic freedom and I am always proud to see our students standing up for issues they feel strongly about," he said.
"I am disappointed this happened, and everyone has learned from it."
Ms Shenfield has not been contacted by the university.
