DrWeb<p><strong>Opinion | Texas gutted free speech on college campuses. Is your state next? – The Washington Post</strong></p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/14/texas-campus-free-speech/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=user/WashPost" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"></a>Attendees pass a political “free-speech zone” at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, on Sept. 27, 2024. (Melina Mara / The Washington Post)<p></p><blockquote><p><a class="" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Opinion</a></p><p><strong>Texas just gutted free speech on college campuses. Is your state next?</strong></p><p class="">New laws in the Lone Star State will silence dissent and undermine faculty authority.</p><p>July 14, 2025, 5 mins</p><p>By Laura Benitez and Jonathan Friedman</p><p><em>Laura Benitez is state policy manager and Jonathan Friedman is Sy Syms managing director for PEN America’s U.S. free expression programs.</em></p><p>As thousands of students return to college campuses this fall, they will find themselves stepping into an environment reshaped by political and ideological mandates. Across the country, state legislators have been racing to exert <a href="https://pen.org/report/americas-censored-classrooms-2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">new influence over free expression in higher education</a>. Now, Texas has surged to the forefront, closing its 2025 legislative session by passing two alarming laws that take effect Sept. 1.</p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/newsletters/shifts/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Get first-person illustrated stories about how work is changing</a></p><p>Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in June, the new laws amount to a stunningly aggressive legislative crackdown on campus protest (<a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB2972/id/3249738" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">S.B. 2972</a>) and academic shared governance (<a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB37/2025" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">S.B. 37</a>) at public colleges and universities. The laws will not just silence dissent and undermine faculty authority in Texas; they provide a blueprint for how to dismantle academic freedom and chill speech on campus state by state.</p><p>Only a few years ago, conservative <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/02/experts-states-likely-keep-abolishing-free-speech-zones#" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">lawmakers railed against</a> college “free-speech zones,” arguing that liberal administrators were muzzling students on the rest of campus. In 2019, Texas legislators joined other states in taking action by <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/05/17/texas-free-speech-college-campus-legislation/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">declaring all outdoor spaces</a> on public campuses open for protest and speech by students, employees and the general public.</p><p>Now, some ofthe same legislators have done an about-face. The campus protest law actually <em>directs</em> public colleges and universities to implement a version of free-speech zones and adopt sweeping limitations on protests. Encampments? Banned. Megaphones or speakers during “class hours”? Forbidden — if anyone claims your “expressive activity” is one that “intimidates others” or “interferes” with an employee’s duties. Even wearing a mask during a protest — something many do for safety — could land a student or employee a disciplinary hearing resulting in “sanctions.” And any expressive activity between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. is off-limits altogether.</p><p><strong><em>Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.</em></strong></p><p>Continue/Read Original Article Here: <em><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/07/14/texas-campus-free-speech/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Opinion | Texas gutted free speech on college campuses. Is your state next? – The Washington Post</a></em></p></blockquote> <p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/america/" target="_blank">#America</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/books/" target="_blank">#Books</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/college-campuses/" target="_blank">#CollegeCampuses</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/colleges/" target="_blank">#Colleges</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/donald-trump/" target="_blank">#DonaldTrump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/free-speech/" target="_blank">#FreeSpeech</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/health/" target="_blank">#Health</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/history/" target="_blank">#History</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/libraries/" target="_blank">#Libraries</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/library-of-congress/" target="_blank">#LibraryOfCongress</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/politics/" target="_blank">#Politics</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/resistance/" target="_blank">#Resistance</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/science/" target="_blank">#Science</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/texas/" target="_blank">#Texas</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/the-washington-post/" target="_blank">#TheWashingtonPost</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump/" target="_blank">#Trump</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/trump-administration/" target="_blank">#TrumpAdministration</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/united-states/" target="_blank">#UnitedStates</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://drwebdomain.blog/tag/universities/" target="_blank">#Universities</a></p>