Why can members of the public come to campus at any time and engage in demonstrations and speeches?
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In celebration of Free Speech Week, Soncia Reagins-Lilly, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, sits down with Amanda Cochran-McCall, Vice...

Univeristy of Texas at Austin 6 months ago:

Video: “Why can members of the public come to campus at any time and engage in demonstrations and speeches?”

Why can members of the public come to campus at any time and engage in demonstrations and speeches? So state law in Texas actually allows uh members of the public just like our university community to come onto campus and use our common outdoor areas for speech activity. I think that surprises a lot of students they show up here and they think who is this random stranger setting up a table talking about a thing I find upsetting but it’s protected by state law and members of the public just like university community can use our common outdoor areas. Now it isn’t a free-for-all. So when you say they can why can they come at any time there’s there’s some Nuance there. It’s subject to our University rules that are permitted under the law so we can put in place time place and manner restrictions that are really all about uh making sure those are content neutral.

So we can’t have rules that say well you can’t come to campus and talk about this or that subject or express this or that view. But we can have rules about where you can set up tables for example or um you know that during the hours of 8 to 5 we don’t have amplified sound in areas outside of designated amplified sound areas. People can’t congregate in front of openings to buildings you know we have a safety concern we have an interest in what our mission is in making sure our students and our faculty and staff can get into buildings can attend classes and do the work of the University. So all those kinds of restrictions those time and place and manner restrictions are permissible and that’s what keeps it from being a free-for-all but it is open and it’s open to everyone.

Univeristy of Texas at Austin yesterday:

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ut-austin-students-to-protest-in-support-of-gaza-with-class-walk-out-and-campus-sit-in/

The Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning UT Austin President Jay Hartzell and other UT leaders.

“There was no threat of violence, no plan to disrupt classes, no intimidation of the campus community,” the statement reads.

  • mozz
    59•7 months ago

    who is this random stranger setting up a table talking about a thing I find upsetting but it’s protected by state law

    “Well, we didn’t mean these kinds of things I find upsetting.”

    “What kinds of things in terms of upsetting speech were you planning on protecting vigorously?”

    “Oh… well, you know…”

    (I also like the little construction where they imply Texas invented the first amendment)

    • @AA5B
      0•7 months ago

      Seriously, what even is the basis for this interview? They’re acting like it’s surprising to allow political speech on campus or for tax payers to be able to use the public university they fund

      • mozz
        2•7 months ago

        They were trying to justify why it’s okay for conservatives to come and set up a table and hand out cryptofascist literature. Giving the interview was lecturing any left wing students that they need to get used to that because it’s not stopping. Like a lot of their principles, they were only meaning for it to be applied in one direction.

        I do think they were surprised that they’d even need to deal with refusing to apply it in the opposite direction against such a vocal opposition, because I think there is a general assumption in the minds of modern conservatives that all the “normal people” agree with them, and so it’s always a little bit of a shock if a big bunch of people are unanimously against them (even if, in a logical sense, it shouldn’t be surprising).