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The University of Texas System Free Speech Policy

August 2024
The University of Texas System (Public college or university)
Austin, TX

Identity of Speakers

  • The University of Texas Board of Regents
    Faculty/Staff
    Other

    The governing body for The University of Texas System

Resources

Additional Information

  • Incident Nature:
    Other
  • Incident Political Orientation:
    Not Clear
  • Incident Responses:
    University administration invoked formal speech code in response
    University administration changed university policy as a consequence
  • Incident Status:
    No litigation
  • Was Speech Code incident

Summary

In August 2024, the University of Texas System Board of Regents adopted a systemwide free speech policy reaffirming commitments to the Chicago Statement on Free Speech and the Kalven Report. The policy emphasized that while students, faculty, and staff retain individual expressive rights, the university as an institution must remain neutral on political and social issues unrelated to its core functions. It directed campuses to avoid issuing official statements or using institutional platforms to comment on current political matters, a move that followed unrest at UT-Austin tied to pro-Palestinian protests.

In August 2025, the regents voted to dissolve faculty senates across the system pursuant to Senate Bill 37, which required governing boards to determine whether such bodies could continue. Any reconstituted senates would be significantly limited in size and subject to presidential appointment authority, with meetings required to be publicly livestreamed. Regents also authorized interim faculty advisory groups while governance structures were reconsidered. That same month, new rules governing campus protests and expressive activity took effect, prohibiting overnight demonstrations, encampments, mask-wearing to conceal identity, and unsponsored activity by members of the public. Expression by students and employees remained permitted in designated outdoor areas but subject to expanded time, place, and manner restrictions.

In October 2025, Governor Greg Abbott announced the creation of a new office within the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to investigate complaints related to faculty and curriculum. The office was described as a mechanism to review concerns about ideological bias in instruction and to ensure that public universities were preparing students for civic and workforce roles rather than advancing political viewpoints. The announcement followed several high-profile faculty removals and administrative changes at UT-Austin and other institutions.

In June 2026, the American Association of University Professors launched a formal committee of inquiry into academic freedom and shared governance at Texas public universities. The investigation is focused on the cumulative effects of recent legislative and institutional changes, including the restructuring of faculty governance, expanded oversight of curriculum, and limits on protest and classroom expression. The committee is expected to examine whether these changes have altered traditional norms of faculty participation in university decision-making and constrained academic independence.

The developments reflect a broader shift in Texas higher education policy toward increased oversight by governing boards and state officials. Supporters describe the changes as necessary to address concerns about ideological influence in the classroom and to align university instruction with workforce and state priorities, while critics argue that the measures centralize political control over academic decisions and weaken longstanding principles of shared governance and institutional neutrality.