Some faculty at Northwestern University are looking to celebrate today. They’re excited one of their former journalism students was freed from an Iranian prison earlier this morning.

It’s been almost a month since Roxana Saberi was convicted of espionage by the Iranian government. The case drew attention from around the world as Saberi protested her eight-year sentence with a hunger strike. Students and faculty at Northwestern University near Chicago held their own hunger strike to draw attention to her case. Journalism professor Jack Doppelt was among them and taught Saberi when she was a student at Northwestern.

DOPPELT: It’s really edifying to feel that the Islamic Republic decided to do the proverbial right thing and release her.

Doppelt says Saberi’s arrest serves as a reminder of the importance of having a free press. As a condition of her release, Saberi has been banned from reporting from Iran for five years.