After college students protested Israel-Hamas war, Texas Senate votes to restrict time, place and manner of future events

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The Texas Senate on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to a bill that would restrict protesting on college campuses in reaction to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.

The bill’s author, Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, said he wants to prevent disruption and unsafe behavior, but opponents have said it contradicts the Legislature’s previous commitment to campus free speech, championed by conservative lawmakers six years ago.

Senate Bill 2972 would give university systems’ governing boards the power to limit where protests can take place on campus and more tools to police them. Lawmakers voted 21-10 to advance the bill without debate.

Under the legislation, students and staff would not be allowed to use microphones or any other device to amplify sound while protesting during class hours. The bill largely prohibits them from protesting at all overnight and during the last two weeks of a semester.

They’d also be barred from erecting encampments, taking down an institution’s U.S. flag to put up another nation’s or organization’s and wearing masks, facial coverings or other disguises to avoid being identified while protesting or to intimidate others.

Finally, students and university employees at a protest would be required to present a valid ID when asked by law enforcement.

In 2019, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 18, which required colleges and universities to ensure that all outdoor common areas of campus were traditional public forums. This meant anyone could protest there as long as they weren’t breaking the law or disrupting the function of the college or university. SB 18 also said any restrictions institutions placed on protesting had to be “narrowly tailored to serve a significant institutional interest.”

SB 2972 would walk those provisions back, allowing governing boards to designate which areas on campus are traditional public forums and allowing them to restrict protests in these areas as long as it is “reasonable in light of the purpose of the area.”

Cate Byrne, a third-year law student at the University of Texas at Austin, said during a Senate K-16 Education Hearing last month that because the bill doesn’t define what is “reasonable,” it could lead to administrators discriminating against protesters based on their viewpoint.

Other current and former UT-Austin students pointed out that some protesters must wear masks because they are immunocompromised and that this legislation would also impede conservative speech — which lawmakers sought to protect when they passed SB 18 in 2019. They pointed out that candlelight vigils for the unborn would not be allowed under this proposal because they would occur at night, for example.

“These restrictions create an impossible situation,” said Sameeha Rizvi, Texas policy and advocacy coordinator for the Council on American-Islamic Relations and a UT-Austin graduate. “Protest silently during the daytime or don't protest at all after hours. Whether students are advocating for human rights or religious freedom, all speech across the political spectrum will be constrained.”

Following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, students across the country demanded their universities divest from Israel or manufacturers supplying Israel with weapons in its strikes on Gaza. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League and the Hillel International also reported a sharp uptick in antisemitic incidents on campus, which lawmakers vowed to address this session. When students protested at UT-Austin, administrators called in armed state troopers, who arrested more than a hundred people over several days.

Several colleges across the country have since imposed limits on protesting that clamped down on pro-Palestinian encampments.

The Indiana University board of trustees adopted a policy similar to the bill the Texas Legislature is considering that prohibits camping unless it is part of a university-approved event, protesting overnight and amplified noise that “materially or substantially” disrupts university life.

The Trump administration has also demanded that Columbia and Harvard universities ban masks at campus protests. Columbia agreed.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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