Texas State’s Unannounced Free Speech Policy Changes

Texas State University updated its free speech policy to comply with a mandate from Governor Greg Abbott aimed at curbing anti-Semitic speech and incidents on public college campuses without announcing it to students. Some have said this change could target pro-Palestinian protest groups.

As reported by KUT, the University changed its policy to comply with Abbott’s mandate to address the “sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts,” by outlining potential punishments for people violating the policy.

Abbott’s executive order was issued after dozens of students were arrested in separate protests at various universities showing support for Palestine. The order offers a new definition of antisemitism:

“‘Antisemitism’ means a certain perception of Jews that may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. The term includes rhetorical and physical acts of antisemitism directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals or their property or toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

A Texas State spokesman said the disciplinary action the university could take would be based on “a variety of factors.”

“I don’t want to prejudice the outcome of any future disciplinary process,” spokesman Mike Wintemute told KUT. “It really will be determined on a case-by-case basis.”

He also said that the university would not be announcing those changes to students.

However, some students are worried that the new policy could target their causes.

Zayna Abdel-Rahim, co-chair of Texas State’s Palestine Solidarity Committee said she is worried because Abbott has mentioned her group before, saying they must be “disciplined for violating these policies.”

“It was very obvious to me that it wasn’t to protect our Jewish communities, but rather to silence the communities speaking up for the Palestinians, which was very concerning to me,” Abdel-Rahim said.

However, the Texas GOP is in fact allowed to associate freely and without penalty with Nazi sympathizers and Holocaust deniers.

Last December, the party voted to reject a ban on associating with Nazi sympathizers after former Republican State Chairman Matt Rinaldi was spotted at a political consulting firm while white supremacist Nick Fuentes was in the building.

Fuentes has previously expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler and has called for a “holy war” against Jews.

The GOP also rejected the ban saying words like “antisemitism” were too vague or subjective and a ban on associating with Nazis would be similar to “leftist” tactics.

“Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas,” Abbott wrote after the pro-Palestininan protests.