Texas State Senate Imposes Speech Restrictions on the University of Texas System

Beginning in March 2024, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued an executive order directing public universities to revise their free speech policies in response to pro-Palestinian campus protests tied to the Israel/Hamas conflict. The order instructed schools to adopt a formal definition of antisemitism and to discipline student organizations and individuals deemed to promote antisemitic or disruptive behavior. This move came amid escalating demonstrations on campuses such as UT Austin, where student groups staged encampments and faced mass arrests. In response, schools began enacting tighter restrictions, including curfews, bans on face coverings during protests, and suspensions of student groups like the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

In August 2024, the University of Texas System Board of Regents took further action by adopting a system-wide “institutional neutrality” policy. Modeled on the Chicago Statement, the policy barred universities from making official statements on controversial political issues, reinforcing the administration’s efforts to limit university involvement in contentious public discourse. At the same time, the Texas Legislature began advancing laws aimed at formalizing these approaches. By April 2025, lawmakers had passed a bill requiring all public colleges to apply a uniform, expanded definition of antisemitism in campus disciplinary proceedings—a move critics argued would disproportionately suppress pro-Palestinian speech.

In May 2025, the Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 2972, which imposed new statewide restrictions on campus protests. The bill limited demonstrations between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., prohibited overnight encampments, banned the use of masks, and gave university boards broad authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of protests. The bill received final legislative approval later that month and was signed by Gov. Abbott in June, 2025.